Your first program

Statements, output and comments

A JavaScript program is a list of statements — instructions — that run from top to bottom.

console.log("Welcome to Corner Café!");
console.log("Today's special: banana bread");
console.log(2 + 3);

Console output:

Welcome to Corner Café!
Today's special: banana bread
5

Breaking it down

• console.log(…) prints whatever is in the brackets to the console. You'll use it constantly.
• Text goes inside quotes: "like this" or 'like this'. Text in code is called a string.
• Numbers don't need quotes — and JavaScript can do maths with them.
• Each statement ends with a semicolon ;. It's optional in many cases, but using it is a good habit.

Comments: notes for humans

Anything after // on a line is a comment. JavaScript ignores it — it's for you and other people reading the code.

// This line is a comment, so it doesn't run
console.log("This line runs"); // comments can go at the end too

Console output:

This line runs

Good comments explain why you did something, not what every line does.

Spelling and capitals matter

JavaScript is case-sensitive. console.log works; Console.Log and console.log with a typo don't. Brackets and quotes must also come in pairs.

Try it

In the playground, write a program that prints three lines: your name, your favourite food, and the answer to 365 * 24 (the hours in a year). Add a comment above it saying what the program does.