Unicode JavaScript Variables and Functions
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!
![CSS vs. JS Animation: Which is Faster?]()
How is it possible that JavaScript-based animation has secretly always been as fast — or faster — than CSS transitions? And, how is it possible that Adobe and Google consistently release media-rich mobile sites that rival the performance of native apps?
This article serves as a point-by-point...
![Send Text Messages with PHP]()
Kids these days, I tell ya. All they care about is the technology. The video games. The bottled water. Oh, and the texting, always the texting. Back in my day, all we had was...OK, I had all of these things too. But I still don't get...
![Drag and Drop MooTools File Uploads]()
Honesty hour confession: file uploading within the web browser sucks. It just does. Like the ugly SELECT element, the file input is almost unstylable and looks different on different platforms. Add to those criticism the fact that we're all used to drag and drop operations...
![Element Position Swapping Using MooTools 1.2]()
We all know that MooTools 1.2 can do some pretty awesome animations. What if we want to quickly make two element swap positions without a lot of fuss? Now you can by implementing a MooTools swap() method.
MooTools 1.2 Implementation
MooTools 1.2 Usage
To call the swap...
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).
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
lol, it’s a funny joke. but I think it may be realize if some protocol is developed in the future. so cool!