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JavaScript JavaScript Foundations Objects Methods

Matthew Cahn
Matthew Cahn
6,301 Points
Posted by Matthew Cahn
Matthew Cahn
6,301 Points

Why is this showing a parse error?

Why is this showing a parse error?

index.html 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <title> JavaScript Foundations: Objects</title>
    <style>
      html {
        background: #FAFAFA;
        font-family: sans-serif;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>JavaScript Foundations</h1>
    <h2>Objects: Methods</h2>
    <script>


      var genericGreet = function() {
        return "Hello, my name is " + this.name;
      }

      var andrew = {
        name: "Andrew",
        greet: genericGreet();
      }

      var ryan = {
        name: "Ryan",
        greet: genericGreet();
      }

    </script>
  </body>
</html>

3 Answers

Hugo Paz
Hugo Paz
15,622 Points
Hugo Paz
Hugo Paz
15,622 Points

Hi Matthew,

You have a parse error due to the semi colons inside each object { greet:genericGreet(); }

If you remove them like this:

      var genericGreet = function() {
        return "Hello, my name is " + this.name;
      };

      var andrew = {
        name: "Andrew",
        greet: genericGreet
      };

      var ryan = {
        name: "Ryan",
        greet: genericGreet
      };

You also dont need the parenthesis since you saved the function in the variable. Only when you call it do you need to use the parenthesis.

ryan.greet();
Matthew Cahn
Matthew Cahn
6,301 Points
Matthew Cahn
Matthew Cahn
6,301 Points

No semicolons in objects got it. That's strange because he had semicolons in the video.

Hugo Paz
Hugo Paz
15,622 Points
Hugo Paz
Hugo Paz
15,622 Points

If you watch the video, you can see that he uses semicolons inside a function that is defined inside the object.

something like this:

{
name: 'andrew',
greet: function (){
console.log("Hi! My name is " + this.name);
}
}

when javascript looks inside the object literal, it does not expect a semicolon and throws an error.

Basically

var o = {
    r: 'some value',
    t: 'some other value'
};

is functionally equivalent to

var o = new Object();
o.r = 'some value';
o.t = 'some other value';
Matthew Cahn
Matthew Cahn
6,301 Points
Matthew Cahn
Matthew Cahn
6,301 Points

Ahh, that makes sense.