Many browsers' implementations (and Node) have constants, used with const.
const SOME_VALUE = "Your string";
This const means that you can't reassign it to any other value.
Check the compatibility notes to see if your targeted browsers are supported.
Alternatively, you could also modify the first example, using defineProperty() or its friends and make the writable property false. This will mean the variable's contents can not be changed, like a constant.
Are you using JQuery? Do you want to use the constants in multiple javascript files? Then read on. (This is my answer for a related JQuery question)
There is a handy jQuery method called 'getScript'. Make sure you use the same relative path that you would if accessing the file from your html/jsp/etc files (i.e. the path is NOT relative to where you place the getScript method, but instead relative to your domain path). For example, for an app at localhost:8080/myDomain:
(function() {
var localByaka;
Object.defineProperty(window, 'Byaka', {
get: function() {
return localByaka;
},
set: function(val) {
localByaka = window.Byaka || val;
}
});
}());
window.Byaka = "foo"; //set constant
window.Byaka = "bar"; // try resetting it for shits and giggles
window.Byaka; // will allways return foo!
If you do this as above in global scope this will be a true constant, because you cannot overwrite the window object.
I've created a library to create constants and immutable objects in javascript. Its still version 0.2 but it does the trick nicely. http://beckafly.github.io/insulatejs
So many ways to skin this cat. You can do this in a closure. This code will give you a read-only , namespaced way to have constants. Just declare them in the Public area.