logo 30 seconds of code

Curated collection of useful JavaScript snippets
that you can understand in 30 seconds or less.

304
snippets

118
contributors

3231
commits

20063
stars

Our philosophy

The core goal of 30 seconds of code is to provide a quality resource for beginner and advanced JavaScript developers alike. We want to help improve the JavaScript ecosystem, by lowering the barrier of entry for newcomers and help seasoned veterans pick up new tricks and remember old ones. In order to achieve this, we have collected hundreds of snippets that can be of use in a wide range of situations. We welcome new contributors and we like fresh ideas, as long as the code is short and easy to grasp in about 30 seconds. The only catch, if you may, is that many of our snippets are not perfectly suited for large, enterprise applications and they might not be deemed production-ready.


In order for 30 seconds of code to be as accessible and useful as possible, all of the snippets in the collection are licensed under the CC0-1.0 License, meaning they are absolutely free to use in any project you like. If you like what we do, you can always credit us, but that is not mandatory.


Today's picks

Our sophisticated robot helpers pick new snippets from our collection daily, so that you can discover new snippets to enhance your projects:

defaults

Assigns default values for all properties in an object that are undefined.

Use Object.assign() to create a new empty object and copy the original one to maintain key order, use Array.reverse() and the spread operator ... to combine the default values from left to right, finally use obj again to overwrite properties that originally had a value.

const defaults = (obj, ...defs) => Object.assign({}, obj, ...defs.reverse(), obj);
defaults({ a: 1 }, { b: 2 }, { b: 6 }, { a: 3 }); // { a: 1, b: 2 }

pluralize

Returns the singular or plural form of the word based on the input number. If the first argument is an object, it will use a closure by returning a function that can auto-pluralize words that don't simply end in s if the supplied dictionary contains the word.

If num is either -1 or 1, return the singular form of the word. If num is any other number, return the plural form. Omit the third argument to use the default of the singular word + s, or supply a custom pluralized word when necessary. If the first argument is an object, utilize a closure by returning a function which can use the supplied dictionary to resolve the correct plural form of the word.

const pluralize = (val, word, plural = word + 's') => {
  const _pluralize = (num, word, plural = word + 's') =>
    [1, -1].includes(Number(num)) ? word : plural;
  if (typeof val === 'object') return (num, word) => _pluralize(num, word, val[word]);
  return _pluralize(val, word, plural);
};
pluralize(0, 'apple'); // 'apples'
pluralize(1, 'apple'); // 'apple'
pluralize(2, 'apple'); // 'apples'
pluralize(2, 'person', 'people'); // 'people'

const PLURALS = {
  person: 'people',
  radius: 'radii'
};
const autoPluralize = pluralize(PLURALS);
autoPluralize(2, 'person'); // 'people'

runAsync

Runs a function in a separate thread by using a Web Worker, allowing long running functions to not block the UI.

Create a new Worker using a Blob object URL, the contents of which should be the stringified version of the supplied function. Immediately post the return value of calling the function back. Return a promise, listening for onmessage and onerror events and resolving the data posted back from the worker, or throwing an error.

const runAsync = fn => {
  const worker = new Worker(
    URL.createObjectURL(new Blob([`postMessage((${fn})());`]), {
      type: 'application/javascript; charset=utf-8'
    })
  );
  return new Promise((res, rej) => {
    worker.onmessage = ({ data }) => {
      res(data), worker.terminate();
    };
    worker.onerror = err => {
      rej(err), worker.terminate();
    };
  });
};
const longRunningFunction = () => {
  let result = 0;
  for (let i = 0; i < 1000; i++) {
    for (let j = 0; j < 700; j++) {
      for (let k = 0; k < 300; k++) {
        result = result + i + j + k;
      }
    }
  }
  return result;
};
/*
  NOTE: Since the function is running in a different context, closures are not supported.
  The function supplied to `runAsync` gets stringified, so everything becomes literal.
  All variables and functions must be defined inside.
*/
runAsync(longRunningFunction).then(console.log); // 209685000000
runAsync(() => 10 ** 3).then(console.log); // 1000
let outsideVariable = 50;
runAsync(() => typeof outsideVariable).then(console.log); // 'undefined'

Getting started


Related projects

The idea behind 30 seconds of code has inspired some people to create similar collections in other programming languages and environments. Here are the ones we like the most:


How to contribute

Do you have a cool idea for a new snippet? Maybe some code you use often and is not part of our collection? Contributing to 30 seconds of code is as simple as 1,2,3,4!

1

Create

Start by creating a snippet, according to the snippet template. Make sure to follow these simple guidelines:

  • Your snippet title must be unique and the same as the name of the implemented function.
  • Use the snippet description to explain what your snippet does and how it works.
  • Try to keep the snippet's code short and to the point. Use modern techniques and features.
  • Remember to provide an example of how your snippet works.
  • Your snippet should solve a real-world problem, no matter how simple.
  • Never modify README.md or any of the HTML files.
2

Tag

Run npm run tagger from your terminal, then open the tag_database file and tag your snippet appropriately. Multitagging is also supported, just make sure the first tag you specify is on of the major tags and the one that is most relevant to the implemneted function.

3

Test

You can optionally test your snippet to make our job easier. Simply run npm run tester to generate the test files for your snippet. Find the related folder for you snippet under the test directory and write some tests. Remember to run npm run tester again to make sure your tests are passing.

4

Pull request

If you have done everything mentioned above, you should now have an awesome snippet to add to our collection. Simply start a pull request and follow the guidelines provided. Remember to only submit one snippet per pull request, so that we can quickly evaluate and merge your code into the collection.

If you need additional pointers about writing a snippet, be sure to read the complete contribution guidelines.