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JavaScript JavaScript Loops, Arrays and Objects Simplify Repetitive Tasks with Loops A Closer Look At Loop Conditions

Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points
Posted by Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points

Why does the challenge throw an error if I don't user the strict not equals operator?

I have some code that satisfies the condition - user is prompted infinitely until 'sesame' is entered, at which point the page is displayed; however, the Challenge Editor is throwing:

Bummer! Use the strict not equals operator -- !== -- to compare the variable secret and the string 'sesame'.

I don't understand why I need to use the strict not equals operator :/ To paraphrase what I have in pseudo code:

authorized = false while authorized === false prompt user if user input === 'sesame' // STRICTLY_EQUALS authorized = true show document and write to it

app.js 
var authorized = false;
while (authorized === false) {
  var secret = prompt("What is the secret password?");
  if (secret === "sesame") {
    authorized = true;
  }
}
document.write("You know the secret password. Welcome.");
index.html 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>JavaScript Loops</title>
</head>
<body>
<script src="app.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson
16,372 Points
Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson
16,372 Points

The challenge is just trying to enforce best practices, a non-strict operator is something to use when you need the side effect of using it I think.

Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points
Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points

Thanks @andrewrobinson3, but I'm not using a non-strict operator to check if (secret === "sesame"), I'm using the strict equals (===). What gives?

Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson
16,372 Points
Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson
16,372 Points

Ah jeez I've just woken up sorry, I think the problem is the challenge is asking for a while loop only, so instead of making a flag and changing that with an if statement you can just say

while (secret !== 'sesame') {
  secret = prompt("What is the secret password?");
}

Way less code for the same task.

Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points
Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points

@andrewrobinson3 I just figured this out some refactoring. Was throwing too many SLOC at the problem...

Thanks for the quick response, have a great day!

1 Answer

Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points
Sean Henderson
Sean Henderson
15,413 Points

The Challenge Editor was expecting a much more elegant solution - putting the comparison of secret and 'sesame' directly into the conditional of the while loop.

while (secret !== 'sesame') {
  secret = prompt("What is the secret password?");
}

This is why it was expecting the strict not equals operator -- !== --. I overcomplicated things by nesting an if block in the loop :)