Rethinking the JavaScript semicolon

Semicolons were part of C++ when I studied at the university. I adopted the same habit of writing a semicolon at the end of each line of code in JavaScript, but there aren't mandatory, so I decided to type less and stopped using them a few weeks ago.

In general, a line-break \n ends a JavaScript statement unless:

1. The line ends with . or ,:

javascript
let array = [
    'erik',
    'jeff',
    'elon'
]

let l = array.
        length

2. The line is ++ or --:

javascript
let age = 34
++
age
// 35
// It's weird to find code written like this

3. Loop or conditions without {:

javascript
while(true)
    console.log('Hello, world')

if(true)
    console.log('Bye, world')

4. The next line starts with a special symbol:

javascript
const hello = () => ['erik', 'jeff', 'elon']

hello()
[1, 2].forEach(e => console.log(e))
// Uncaught TypeError: hello(...)[(1 , 2)].forEach is not a function
// Here, a semicolon is required

You can solve this case by writing a semicolon (or a comma) at the end of the function, or a the beginning of the new line:

javascript
const hello = () => console.log('test')

hello(),
[1, 2].forEach(e => console.log(e))

Sites like GitHub are free from semicolons. From now on, I'll avoid them as well.