ALWAYS Avoid Global Variables?

[techismylife]

 

 

[tarfeef101]

I'll assume this is a question. 

A good rule when you encounter these "universal rules" in programming, I think, is this:

• do your absolute best to follow them
  • unless you understand why people say that, and why they could be wrong

People often say "don't use switch statements" or (especially this one) "don't use goto". However, both have their legitimate uses, and are the best solution in some cases. If you can say why that is the case, then feel free to use them. If you can't, then probably don't. 

 

 

There are definitely times when writing js code that I have used globals, and definitely times I technically could have, but avoided doing so in favour of a better solution. But, I'm also a CS graduate, and have been working professionally in software development for some time, so I sincerely hope I'd be able to make those determinations

I will also say this: those rules mostly apply to writing "real" code, when making applications you plan to actually run and do something productive. If you're just playing around trying to learn, don't stress about it. It's much better to keep progressing in your learning experience and commit a couple faux-pas than to run into one, get stumped, and quit.

[JacobFW]

I agree with @tarfeef101   This is a good case of "Learn the rules before you break them"

 

Speaking from experience though I will say this is a very, very good rule to follow.  Because global variables can be modified by any other code, this can lead to some extremely infuriating intermittent errors that can be a nightmare to solve.  So it is best to just go ahead and get in the habit of not using them, until you come across a situation where you need them.

[2FA]

W3schools is pretty bad and out of date but regardless the point is rather valid as others have demonstrated. I will say I'm working a Go package that has a few global variables but they're only used within the package and can't be accessed from outside of it if you were to import the package.