Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

JavaScript JavaScript Basics (Retired) Making Decisions with Conditional Statements Boolean Values

Agnes Demes
Agnes Demes
6,613 Points
Posted by Agnes Demes
Agnes Demes
6,613 Points

still wrapping my head around why we dont have to test if( correctGuess === true) { ...}

why we can delete the evaluation of the boolean variable... such as if ( correctGuess ){..} and it still only follow this iteration when true.

if each answer to these questions is a YES then i get it , if not then no idea..

is the true state the always the first test? if I wanted to test for false first would have to write if ( correctGuess !=== true){..}
does true mean exist in a way?

5 Answers

Ben Reynolds
Ben Reynolds
35,170 Points
Ben Reynolds
Ben Reynolds
35,170 Points

is the true state the always the first test?

Exactly. When you use an if statement to test a boolean, its default behavior is to check if the value is true. You only need to use "!", "!=" etc if you want to override that and check for false instead.

Henrik Christensen
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Henrik Christensen
Python Web Development Techdegree Student 38,322 Points
Henrik Christensen
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Henrik Christensen
Python Web Development Techdegree Student 38,322 Points 
// this is the same as saying if (correctGuess == true)
if (correctGuess) {
  // do something
}

// if you want to test for 'false'
if (correctGuess == false) {
  // do something 
}

// or like this
if (correctGuess != true) {
  // do something
}

// and this is like saying if (correctGuess == false) too
if (!correctGuess) {
  // do something
}
Lizzie Bailey
Lizzie Bailey
1,734 Points
Lizzie Bailey
Lizzie Bailey
1,734 Points

You're amazing; that's totally cleared it up!

Agnes Demes
Agnes Demes
6,613 Points
Agnes Demes
Agnes Demes
6,613 Points

Thank you both for your answers.

Michelle Waggoner
Michelle Waggoner
1,687 Points
Michelle Waggoner
Michelle Waggoner
1,687 Points

Thanks. I did not quite catch how correctGuess by itself within the conditional statement was checking to see if it was true. Thanks for clearing it up.