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JavaScript

"undefined" under h1 tag?

Hi guys,

I'm not sure why I'm getting undefined under my h1 tag...

This is in regards to this video - https://teamtreehouse.com/library/javascript-loops-arrays-and-objects/tracking-data-using-objects/the-build-an-object-challenge-part-2-solution

My code can be found here - https://jsfiddle.net/efqbg4n1/

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! This line is the line causing all your problems:

var message;

When you declare a variable without giving it an initial value, the type is undefined. That's perfectly ok until you start trying to manipulate it with an arithmetic or concatenation operator such as +. So when you start your for loop it is still undefined, but then you immediately try to concatenate to it. This will result in undefined being in the first part of your ending string. The solution:

var message = "";

:bulb: If you know you have a variable which is going to contain a string later, it's always a great idea to initialize it to an empty string. This prevents this sort of thing from happening if you later want to concatenate to it.

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

youre the best! thank you!!

Great answer. This is something that needs to seriously be hammered into my head.