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JavaScript

Posted by seth aruby
seth aruby
10,111 Points

Why refer to const as a variable in the first place?

Since a const is not really variable?

2 Answers

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

Hi there, seth! Because you haven't linked a video or discussion, I can't say exactly where you saw/heard this. That being said constants are much like variables in that they reference a value held in memory. The big difference is that a true variable can be changed while a const can not. But both are still referencing a value held in memory. The name of a variable or constant is simply a label/alias to retrieve that value. The instructor may have misspoken and said variable when they meant constant. This happens to all of us, especially with things for which others substitute similar terms for each other. I see this also happen with the terms "argument" and "parameter". Semantically, they are very different, but even seasoned programmers use these interchangeably at times.

Hope this helps! :sparkles:

seth aruby
seth aruby
10,111 Points

Thank you for your explanation, Jennifer. Very helpful! Here's a link to the module I was looking at for your reference.
https://teamtreehouse.com/library/creating-unchanging-variables-with-const-2

Richard Nesbitt
Richard Nesbitt
6,775 Points
Richard Nesbitt
Richard Nesbitt
6,775 Points

I think the simplest answer to your question is this: What if you use it 500 times, and then need to change the value?

Many variables I see used on a daily basis, never change in the programming, but are referenced all over the place. Maybe constants would be more semantically appropriate, but they are defined at the start of the script so we can change them all at the same time.