Nicholas C. Zakas > Quotes

“A literal is syntax that allows you to define a reference value without explicitly creating an object, using the new operator and the object’s constructor.”
― Nicholas C. Zakas, The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript

“JavaScript is a garbage-collected language, so you don’t really need to worry about memory allocations when you use reference types. However, it’s best to dereference objects that you no longer need so that the garbage collector can free up that memory. The best way to do this is to set the object variable to null.”
― Nicholas C. Zakas, The Principles of Object-Oriented JavaScript

“If you have cancer or AIDS, you are a victim who is bravely fighting a horrible disease. Society regularly labels these people as brave, courageous, and heroic. They are incredibly strong and we cheer them along in their pursuit of health (several members of my family have had, and beaten, cancer, and they are undeniably heroes). If you have chronic fatigue syndrome, though, society views you as weak, as emotionally inferior and constitutionally lacking. People tell you to “snap out of it” or “it’s just depression,” as if you could just decide to be healthy and it would be so. Even people you think love you still harbor secret opinions, “well, he is a bit of a hypochondriac.” These are the people we ridicule on sitcoms: the kid who needs an inhaler, the teenager with food allergies, all labeled as “weak” and pitiful. Not victims of unfortunate circumstances like those fighting a “real” disease, but people who have chosen to be weak, and therefore, deserve ridicule if for no other reason than it might snap them out of it.”
― Nicholas C. Zakas