Trouble understanding javascript syntax: if (parameter == "someValue") parameter = ""

Question

I'm having trouble understanding this JS syntax:

function myFunction(a) {
  if (a == "someValue") a = ""; 
}

Is this some sort of shorthand? As in: if "a" is equal to "someValue", then set "a" to be empty?

Answer 1

That's just a standard if statement without the curly braces. Your code is basically the same as this:

if (a == "someValue") {
  a = "";
}

A shorthand would be using something like a ternary operator like this:

a = (a == "someValue") ? "" : a;

// if "a" is loosely equal to "someValue", then assign an empty string to "a",
// else leave "a" unchanged by assigning it to it's current value.