Daily Software Tips & Tricks

If you are still writing `if (!settings.theme) settings.theme = 'dark';` or even `settings.theme = settings.theme || 'dark';`, it is time to simplify. Modern JavaScript gives us logical assignment operators that combine logical operations with assignment in a clean, readable way.

By using `settings.theme ||= 'dark'`, you only assign 'dark' if `settings.theme` is falsy. Even better, use the nullish coalescing assignment operator (`??=`) to only assign a value if the variable is strictly `null` or `undefined`. This prevents pesky bugs where valid falsy values, like `0` or an empty string, accidentally get overwritten.