Unicode JavaScript Variables and Functions

By  on  

We all get a kick out of unicode symbols, as we all saw in my Unicode CSS Classes post, and just as we can use them for CSS classes, we can use them for JavaScript variables and functions as well!  Let's say you want to shave a few bytes of post-minified JavaScript byes by setting false equal to a variable.  Why not do so by using a unicode variable?

var ಠ_ಠ = false;

if(someVar === ಠ_ಠ) { // If someVar is false...
	// ...
}

Hilarious.  The evil eyes signal a negative result.  What about saving a few byes on true?  The Beatles once said that "All You Need is Love", so let's use a heart:

var ❤ = true;

if(someVar === ❤) {
	// ...
}

You can do the same with function names.  Functions can be named after unicode symbols:

function ಠ(arg) {
	// ...
}

Of course all of this is a bit ... insane, and you should never use unicode symbols, but nonetheless it's possible.  Imagine starting a new job and seeing those symbols as meaningful variables -- you'd quit immediately!  Hilarious!

Recent Features

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Create a Simple News Scroller Using MooTools, Part I:  The Basics

    News scroller have been around forever on the internet. Why? Because they're usually classy and effective. Over the next few weeks, we'll be taking a simple scroller and making it into a flexible, portable class. We have to crawl before we...

  • By
    MooTools Gone Wild: Element Flashing

    If you're like me and lay awake in bed at night, you've flipped on the TV and seen the commercials: misguided, attention-starved college girls fueled by alcohol ruining their futures by flashing lame camera-men on Spring Break. Why do they do it? Attention...

Discussion

  1. I could see this improving minification when processing files with many variables/methods in the same scope (if they don’t use it already, I’m not sure).

  2. Unicode characters are useless for minification, each unicode character uses 2 bytes instead of 1 in utf8. Also, there is no reason not to use unicode in variable names if you properly declare encoding in your html.

    • Actually, some characters take up to 4 bytes, not just 2. The Kannada letter TTHA in the example rakes 3 bytes for example, so “false” was minified from 5 bytes to 7 :P

  3. lol, it’s a funny joke. but I think it may be realize if some protocol is developed in the future. so cool!

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!