"Return Statements, DOM Tweaks, and Small Fixes That Made a Big Difference"

Today was all about small wins — those moments where something finally clicks after staring at it for way too long. I’m still in the early stages of learning JavaScript, but each day adds a bit more clarity. Here’s what I worked through:

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🧠 Understanding return vs console.log()

This was a lightbulb moment. I used to think they kind of did the same thing — show you the result of something. But that’s not the full picture.

• console.log() is like saying something out loud. It just tells you what the value is.

• return is like handing the value to someone. You can catch it, store it, and use it later.

For example:

function getFastestRaceTime() {
    if (player1Time < player2Time) {
        return player1Time
    } else {
        return player2Time
    }
}

let fastestRace = getFastestRaceTime()
console.log(fastestRace)

Here, return gives me the value. console.log() just lets me see it.

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🐛 Debugging a Scope Issue

I wrote a totalRaceTime() function and forgot to declare the sumOfRaceTime variable with let. That made it global by accident — which could lead to issues later on if something else messes with it.

The fix was simple:

function totalRaceTime () {
    let sumOfRaceTime = player1Time + player2Time
    return sumOfRaceTime
}

Lesson learned: Always declare your variables properly to avoid surprise bugs.

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🃏 Working on the Blackjack Project

I’ve been building a simple Blackjack game, and I finally got the basic flow working: drawing cards, calculating the sum, and updating the UI based on the outcome.

Here’s a snippet from where I left off:

function newCard() {
    let card = 6
    sum += card
    cards.push(card)
    renderGame()
}

Right now the card value is hardcoded to 6, but the next step is to make this dynamic by writing a getRandomCard() function. Still, I’m proud that the game works — it updates the DOM, responds to events, and feels interactive.

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🧩 Small But Important Discoveries

• Using += instead of = when building strings:

    greetingEl.textContent += sentence[i]
  

  This let me append new words instead of replacing the whole thing each time. Little things like that really shape how the app behaves.

• I also practiced looping through arrays to display card values:

    for (let i = 0; i < cards.length; i++) {
        cardsEl.textContent += cards[i] + " "
    }
  

That’s how I’m building up the visible cards on the screen.

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🎯 What’s Next?

Tomorrow I want to:

• Implement the getRandomCard() function.

• Refactor the Blackjack game to make the logic cleaner.

• Play around more with conditionals and maybe even try adding a “restart game” button.

Every time I debug something or make the code cleaner, I feel like I’m leveling up a little bit more.

I think I want to do this a bit more. Fingers crossed I show up and actually do it.

Its good practice for documentation to be fair.

See you tomorrow.