AnonymousOct 20, 2023
Frontend interview questions can vary in difficulty and scope, depending on the specific role and company. Here's a list of 60 JavaScript-related questions that cover a broad range of topics and can help you prepare for a frontend interview:
JavaScript is a versatile, high-level, and dynamic programming language that is primarily used for web development. Its role in web development includes enabling dynamic content, client-side scripting, interactivity, AJAX, and ensuring cross-browser compatibility. It enhances the user experience by allowing web pages to respond to user input and manipulate the Document Object Model (DOM) in real-time.
"undefined"
means a variable has been declared but hasn't been assigned a value,"Null"
is another primitive value in JavaScript, used to represent the intentional absence of any object value. Developers often assign "null" to a variable to indicate that it has no meaningful value or to remove a reference to an object."let"
allows you to declare block-scoped variables, meaning they are limited in scope to the block, statement, or expression in which they are defined. Variables declared with "let" can be reassigned."const"
is used to declare variables that cannot be reassigned after their initial assignment. Like "let," it is block-scoped.==
" operator checks for equality without considering data type. For example, 1 == '1' would return true because it only compares the values.===
" operator checks for both equality and data type. In this case, 1 === '1' would return false because it requires both the value and the data type to be the same.The "this" keyword in JavaScript is used to refer to the execution context of a function. It provides a way to access or modify object properties and methods. The value of "this" depends on how the function is called and can be dynamically determined based on the context in which the function is invoked.
Closures in JavaScript are functions that "close over" variables and functions from their containing (enclosing) function, even after the outer function has finished executing. Closures are used for encapsulation, data hiding, and creating private variables and functions. They are essential for maintaining access to the outer function's scope and variables, enabling more advanced programming techniques.
Number: Represents both integer and floating-point numbers. For example: 5, 3.14.
String: Represents a sequence of characters. For example: "Hello, World".
Boolean: Represents a true or false value. For example: true, false.
Undefined: Represents a variable that has been declared but has not been assigned a value.
Null: Represents the intentional absence of any object value or no value at all.
Symbol (ES6): Represents a unique and immutable value, primarily used as object property keys.
BigInt (ES11): Represents arbitrary precision integers. For example: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n.
To check the type of a variable in JavaScript, you can use the typeof operator. The typeof operator returns a string that represents the data type of the variable. Here's how you can use it:
var age = 25;
var name = "John";
console.log(typeof age); // Outputs: "number"
console.log(typeof name); // Outputs: "string"
A callback function in JavaScript is a function that is passed as an argument to another function and is typically executed after the completion of that function. Callback functions are often used to ensure that certain code doesn't run until a specific task is completed, which is especially common in asynchronous operations like handling events, making API requests, or reading files.
Here's a simple example of a callback function:
function doSomethingAsync(callback) {
setTimeout(function () {
console.log("Task is done!");
callback(); // Execute the callback function
}, 1000);
}
function onComplete() {
console.log("Callback function executed");
}
doSomethingAsync(onComplete);
In this example, onComplete is a callback function passed to doSomethingAsync. It will be executed after the asynchronous task (in this case, a simulated timeout) is completed.
A closure in JavaScript is a function that retains access to its outer (enclosing) function's variables even after the outer function has finished executing. It essentially "closes over" those variables, allowing the inner function to access and manipulate them. Closures are a powerful and important concept in JavaScript and are frequently used in various programming patterns, such as maintaining private data, creating factories, and implementing callbacks.
Example of a closure:
function outerFunction() {
let outerVar = 10;
function innerFunction() {
console.log(outerVar); // Inner function can access outerVar
}
return innerFunction;
}
const closureExample = outerFunction();
closureExample(); // Outputs: 10
In this example, innerFunction is a closure because it can still access outerVar even after outerFunction has finished executing.
Function Declaration:
Example of a function declaration:
function add(a, b) {
return a + b;
}
Function Expression:
Example of a function expression:
const subtract = function (a, b) {
return a - b;
};
The key difference is that function declarations are hoisted, while function expressions are not necessarily hoisted.
Function hoisting is a JavaScript behavior that allows function declarations to be moved to the top of their containing scope during the compilation phase. This means that you can use a function before it's declared in your code, and it will still work. Function expressions are not hoisted in the same way.
For example:
sayHello(); // This works even though the function is defined later in the code
function sayHello() {
console.log("Hello, World!");
}
It's important to note that while function declarations are hoisted, function expressions are not. Function expressions need to be defined before they are used, just like any other variable.
Function hoisting can be a bit surprising, so it's a good practice to define your functions before using them to make your code more readable and avoid unexpected behavior.
Variable scope in JavaScript refers to the context in which a variable is declared and can be accessed. It determines where a variable is visible and can be used within your code. JavaScript has two main types of variable scope:
Variable scope is an important concept in JavaScript because it helps avoid naming conflicts and allows you to encapsulate data and logic within functions, reducing the risk of unintended interactions between parts of your code.
Strict mode is a feature in JavaScript that enforces a stricter set of rules for coding. When you enable strict mode in your JavaScript code using the "use strict"; directive at the beginning of a script or a function, it helps catch common coding mistakes and "unsafe" actions.
The purpose of strict mode includes:
Enabling strict mode is considered good practice for writing robust and maintainable JavaScript code. It helps you write code that is less error-prone and easier to debug.
There are multiple ways to create objects in JavaScript. Here are some common methods:
const person = { name: "John", age: 30 };
2. Using the Object Constructor:
const person = new Object();
person.name = "John";
person.age = 30;
3. Using Object.create (for creating objects with a specific prototype):
const personPrototype = { name: "John", age: 30 };
const person = Object.create(personPrototype);
4. Using a Constructor Function (for creating multiple objects of the same type):
function Person(name, age) {
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
}
const person = new Person("John", 30);
The key difference is that "undefined" usually indicates a mistake or an attempt to access a non-existent property, while "null" is often used to represent an intentional lack of value.
You can access object properties in JavaScript using dot notation or square bracket notation:
object.propertyName;
object["propertyName"];
Example:
const person = { name: "John", age: 30 };
console.log(person.name); // Dot notation
console.log(person["age"]); // Square bracket notation
Square bracket notation is useful when the property name is dynamic or contains special characters.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a data interchange format that is closely related to JavaScript objects. JSON is a text-based format that represents data as key-value pairs, similar to JavaScript objects. JSON is widely used for data exchange between a server and a web application, as well as for configuration files.
JSON is derived from JavaScript object literal syntax, but there are some key differences:
JavaScript provides methods for converting between JSON and JavaScript objects:
const fruits = ["apple", "banana", "orange"];
console.log(fruits[0]); // Accessing elements by index
Example:
const person = { name: "John", age: 30, address: { city: "New York", zip: "10001" } };
console.log(person.name); // Accessing properties with dot notation
Both arrays and objects are fundamental to JavaScript and are used extensively in web development for organizing and manipulating data.
Arrays are ordered collections of values. They are created using square brackets [] and can contain elements of any data type, including other arrays. Each element is assigned an index starting from 0, allowing you to access elements by their position.
Example:
const fruits = ["apple", "banana", "orange"];
Objects are collections of key-value pairs, where keys are strings (or symbols) and values can be of any data type. Objects are created using curly braces {}. They are versatile data structures that allow you to represent structured data.
Example:
const person = {
name: "John",
age: 30,
address: {
city: "New York",
zip: "10001"
}
};
The Document Object Model (DOM) is a programming interface provided by web browsers that represents a structured, hierarchical view of an HTML or XML document. It allows JavaScript to interact with and manipulate the content, structure, and style of web pages. In essence, the DOM provides a way to access, modify, and update web page content dynamically.
To select an element by its ID in the DOM using JavaScript, you can use the getElementById method. Here's how you can do it:
const element = document.getElementById("elementId");
Replace "elementId" with the actual ID of the element you want to select. This method returns a reference to the element with the specified ID, allowing you to interact with and manipulate that element.
The innerHTML property of an HTML element allows you to get or set the HTML content (including tags) of an element. If you set it, it will replace the existing content, and any HTML tags you include will be parsed and rendered.
Example:
const element = document.getElementById("example");
element.innerHTML = "<strong>New content</strong>";
The textContent property retrieves or sets the text content of an element. It treats everything inside the element as plain text, and any HTML tags you include will be treated as literal text and not parsed.
Example:
const element = document.getElementById("example");
element.textContent = "New content";
In summary, innerHTML deals with the HTML content of an element, including HTML tags, while textContent deals with the plain text content, treating HTML tags as text rather than parsing them.
To create and append new elements to the DOM using JavaScript, you can follow these steps:
Create a new element using the document.createElement method:
const newElement = document.createElement("elementType");
Set attributes and content for the new element, if needed:
newElement.setAttribute("attributeName", "attributeValue");
newElement.textContent = "Content";
Append the new element to an existing element in the DOM:
const parentElement = document.getElementById("parentId");
parentElement.appendChild(newElement);
This process allows you to dynamically create and insert new elements into the web page's document structure.
Event delegation is a JavaScript programming technique where you attach a single event listener to a common ancestor element of multiple child elements you want to monitor for events. This technique takes advantage of event propagation (bubbling) in the Document Object Model (DOM) to manage events efficiently. By doing this, you reduce the number of event listeners and make your code more efficient, especially when dealing with a large number of elements.
To prevent the default behavior of an event in JavaScript, you can use the preventDefault() method on the event object. This is commonly used for handling things like form submissions, link clicks, or key presses without navigating to a new page.
Example:
const link = document.getElementById("myLink");
link.addEventListener("click", function (event) {
event.preventDefault(); // Prevent the default behavior
// Your custom code here
});
In the example above, when the link is clicked, the event.preventDefault() call prevents the browser from navigating to the URL specified in the link's href attribute.
Event delegation is a JavaScript programming technique where you attach a single event listener to a common ancestor element of multiple child elements you want to monitor for events. This technique takes advantage of event propagation (bubbling) in the Document Object Model (DOM) to manage events efficiently. By doing this, you reduce the number of event listeners and make your code more efficient, especially when dealing with a large number of elements.
Key steps in event delegation:
Event delegation is often used for scenarios like handling events on a list of items, dynamically added elements, or elements that share a common parent.
To prevent the default behavior of an event in JavaScript, you can use the preventDefault() method on the event object. This is commonly used for handling things like form submissions, link clicks, or key presses without navigating to a new page.
Example
:
const link = document.getElementById("myLink");
link.addEventListener("click", function (event) {
event.preventDefault(); // Prevent the default behavior // Your custom code here});
In the example above, when the link is clicked, the event.preventDefault() call prevents the browser from navigating to the URL specified in the link's href attribute.
You can specify whether you want to use event bubbling or event capturing when attaching event listeners using the addEventListener method. The third argument, a boolean, determines the phase: true for capturing and false (or omitted) for bubbling.
example:
element.addEventListener("click", myFunction, true); // Event capturing
element.addEventListener("click", myFunction, false); // Event bubbling (default)
Most of the time, event bubbling is used, as it is more common and better suited for handling events in typical web applications.
To add an event listener to an element in JavaScript, you can use the addEventListener method. Here's the basic syntax:
element.addEventListener(eventType, callbackFunction);
Example:
const button = document.getElementById("myButton");
button.addEventListener("click", function () {
console.log("Button clicked!");
});
This code attaches a "click" event listener to a button element. When the button is clicked, the provided function is executed.
Asynchronous programming in JavaScript is a way of executing code that allows certain operations to be performed independently of the main program flow. This is particularly useful for tasks that may take time to complete, such as making network requests, reading files, or waiting for user input. Asynchronous programming ensures that the application remains responsive and doesn't block the execution of other tasks during potentially time-consuming operations.
Handling errors in asynchronous code can be achieved using various methods, depending on the asynchronous programming approach being used:
Example of error handling with async/await:
async function fetchData() {
try {
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
if (!response.ok) {
throw new Error('Failed to fetch data');
}
const data = await response.json();
return data;
} catch (error) {
console.error(error);
}
}
The event loop is a fundamental concept in JavaScript's concurrency model. It's responsible for managing the execution of code in a non-blocking and single-threaded environment. The event loop allows JavaScript to perform tasks asynchronously, such as handling user input, making network requests, and executing timers, without blocking the main thread of execution.
The event loop operates in a loop, constantly checking the message queue for pending messages or events. When a message is found, it's picked up from the queue and processed, which may involve executing callback functions associated with events, timers, or I/O operations.
The event loop is a core part of JavaScript's asynchronous execution model and is essential for building responsive and efficient web applications. It ensures that tasks are executed in a non-blocking way, enabling the handling of multiple concurrent operations while maintaining a single-threaded execution model.
The let and const keywords were introduced in ES6 (ECMAScript 2015) to declare variables in JavaScript. They differ from the older var keyword in terms of scope and mutability:
Example:
function example() {
let x = 10;
x = 20; // Valid
const y = 5;
y = 8; // Error: Assignment to constant variable
}
Template literals in ES6 are a way to create strings with embedded expressions. They are enclosed in backticks (`) and can contain placeholders for variables or expressions using ${}. This makes it easier to create multiline strings and interpolate values into the string. Unlike regular strings enclosed in single or double quotes, template literals are more versatile and concise.
Example:
const name = 'John';
const greeting = `Hello, ${name}!`;
The key difference is the use of backticks and ${} for variable interpolation, which simplifies string formatting.
Here's an example of an arrow function:
const add = (a, b) => a + b;
Destructuring with objects:
const person = { name: 'Alice', age: 30 };
const { name, age } = person; // Extracts 'name' and 'age' properties into variables
Destructuring with arrays:
const numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
const [first, second, ...rest] = numbers; // Extracts the first two elements and the rest into variables
Here's an example of defining a class and using inheritance:
class Animal {
constructor(name) {
this.name = name;
}
speak() {
console.log(`${this.name} makes a sound.`);
}
}
class Dog extends Animal {
speak() {
console.log(`${this.name} barks.`);
}
}
const myDog = new Dog('Buddy');
myDog.speak(); // Output: "Buddy barks."
In this example, Dog is a subclass of Animal, and it inherits the speak method from Animal, but it can override it with its own implementation. This is the essence of inheritance in ES6 classes.
A JavaScript module is a reusable piece of code that encapsulates functionality and can be easily reused across different parts of a web application. Unlike a regular script, a module has its own scope, which means its variables and functions are isolated from the global scope.
To export and import modules in ES6, you can use the export and import statements. To export, you use export before a variable, function, or class, and to import, you use import to bring those exports into another module.
// Exporting module.js
export const myVariable = 42;
export function myFunction() { /* ... */ }
// Importing in another module
import { myVariable, myFunction } from './module.js';
Package managers like npm or yarn help in managing and installing external libraries and dependencies for your web development projects. They also provide version control, making it easy to share and collaborate on code with other developers.
Bundling and minification are optimization techniques used to improve web application performance. Bundling combines multiple files into a single file to reduce the number of HTTP requests, while minification reduces the size of code files by removing unnecessary characters like whitespace and comments, making them faster to download and execute in a browser.
A Promise in JavaScript is an object used for asynchronous operations. It represents a value that might not be available yet but will be resolved in the future, either successfully with a value or unsuccessfully with an error.
To create and use Promises in JavaScript, you typically define a function that returns a Promise. This function should contain asynchronous code, and you use the resolve function to fulfill the Promise and the reject function to reject it. Consumers of the Promise can then use .then() and .catch() to handle the resolved value or any errors.
const myPromise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
// Asynchronous code
if (/* operation successful */) {
resolve('Success');
} else {
reject('Error');
}
});
myPromise
.then(result => {
console.log(result);
})
.catch(error => {
console.error(error);
});
The async and await keywords are used in JavaScript to simplify asynchronous code and make it appear more like synchronous code. The async keyword is used before a function declaration, indicating that the function will return a Promise, and the await keyword is used inside an async function to wait for the resolution of another Promise.
example:
async function fetchData() {
try {
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
const data = await response.json();
return data;
} catch (error) {
console.error(error);
}
}
To handle errors in async/await functions, you can use a try...catch block, as shown in the previous example. If an error occurs during the execution of the async function, it will be caught in the catch block, where you can handle it. This allows for better error handling and makes it easier to manage asynchronous code.
Web APIs, or Web Application Programming Interfaces, are sets of rules and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other over the web. In the context of JavaScript, Web APIs are a way to access and manipulate various features and functionalities of web browsers, like working with the Document Object Model (DOM), making HTTP requests, accessing geolocation data, and more. They provide a bridge between JavaScript and the web browser, enabling web applications to interact with external services and data sources.
Example:
fetch('https://api.example.com/data')
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data))
.catch(error => console.error(error));
You can use these storage mechanisms to store and retrieve data in web applications, such as user preferences or cached data.
CORS, or Cross-Origin Resource Sharing, is a security feature implemented by web browsers to prevent web pages from making requests to a different domain than the one that served the web page. It is a security measure to protect against cross-site request forgery and other potential security threats. To handle CORS in web development, you need to configure your server to include appropriate response headers, like the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header, and you can also use techniques like JSONP or proxy servers to work around CORS restrictions when making cross-origin requests from a web page.
To perform unit testing in JavaScript, developers can use testing libraries and frameworks like Mocha, Jasmine, or Jest. They write test cases for their functions or modules and use assertion methods to check if the actual output matches the expected output.
TDD is a cycle, and developers repeat these steps for each piece of functionality they want to implement. TDD helps in producing well-tested, reliable code and ensures that new code doesn't break existing functionality.
TDD is a cycle, and developers repeat these steps for each piece of functionality they want to implement. TDD helps in producing well-tested, reliable code and ensures that new code doesn't break existing functionality.
To improve the performance of a web page by reducing the number of HTTP requests, you can follow these strategies:
Browser caching allows a web browser to store copies of static assets (e.g., images, stylesheets, and scripts) on the user's device. When the user revisits the site, these assets can be retrieved from the local cache instead of making new HTTP requests to the server. To leverage browser caching:
I use feature detection, progressive enhancement, and graceful degradation techniques. Additionally, I test my applications on various browsers and platforms and use tools like Autoprefixer to ensure consistent styling across browsers.
58. What is the importance of asynchronous programming for performance in JavaScript?
59. How can you improve the performance of loops in JavaScript?
60. What are some tools and techniques for profiling and debugging JavaScript performance issues?
These questions cover a wide range of JavaScript topics that are relevant to frontend development. Be prepared to explain your answers and provide code examples when applicable during the interview.