CoffeeScript equivalents in ECMAScript6/ES2015
Inspiration from es6-equivalents-in-es5
Note: a few of these examples are taken from CoffeeScript's own website.
Topics
- Statements as Expressions
- Arrow Functions
- Splats
- Array Comprehensions
- Default Params
- String interpolation / Template strings
- Lexical Scope and Variable safety.
- Function binding
- Classes, Inheritance, and Super
- Destructuring Assignment
- Array Slicing
- Array Splicing
- Ranges
- Chained Comprehensions
- Block Regular Expressions
- Operators and Aliases
- Generators
- Loops and Iteration
- Switch Statements
Statements as Expressions
CoffeeScript: 
grade = (student) ->
unless student?
throw new Error 'student is required'
else if student.excellentWork
'A+'
else if student.okayStuff
if student.triedHard then 'B' else 'B-'
else
'C'
eldest = if 24 > 21 then 'Liz' else 'Ike'
ES6 equivalent:
// There is no exact equivalent, but there are ternary expressions for common
// cases like above.
const grade = (student = new Error('student is required')) => {
if (student.excellentWork) {
return 'A+';
} else if (student.okayStuff) {
return student.triedHard ? 'B' : 'B-';
} else {
return 'C';
}
}
let eldest = 24 > 21 ? 'Liz' : 'Ike';
Note: you might want to watch discussion on do-expressions if you are interested in this feature. Note that the code below may not reflect the proposal in its current state.
// With current do-expression proposal, stage 0
let grade = student => do {
if (student == null) {
throw new Error('student is required')
} else if (student.excellentWork) {
'A+';
} else if (student.okayStuff) {
student.triedHard ? 'B' : 'B-';
} else {
'C';
}
}
Arrow Functions
CoffeeScript: 
readConfig = (file, parse) ->
new Promise (resolve) ->
fs.readFile file, 'utf8', (err, data) =>
if err?
reject err
else
resolve parse data
ES6 equivalent: 
function readConfig(file, parse) {
return new Promise(resolve =>
fs.readFile(file, 'utf8', (err, data) =>
err != null ?
reject(err) :
resolve(parse(data)));
}
Splats
CoffeeScript: 
race = (winner, runners...) ->
console.log winner, runners
race 'Bob', runnerList...
ES6 equivalent: 
let race = (winner, ...runners) =>
console.log(winner, runners);
race('Bob', ...runners);
Array Comprehensions
CoffeeScript: 
numbers = [ 1, 4, 9 ];
(Math.sqrt num for num in numbers)
# -> [1, 2, 3]
ES6 equivalent:
let numbers = [ 1, 4, 9 ];
numbers.map(num => Math.sqrt(num));
// -> [1, 2, 3]
ES7 equivalent: 
let numbers = [ 1, 4, 9 ];
[for (num of numbers) Math.sqrt(num)];
// -> [1, 2, 3]
Default Params
CoffeeScript: 
log = (message, level='log') -> console[level](message)
ES6 equivalent: 
let log = (message, level = 'log') => console[level](message);
String interpolation / Template strings
CoffeeScript: 
container = 'mug'
liquid = 'hot chocolate'
console.log "Filling the #{container} with #{liquid}..."
# -> "Filling the mug with hot chocolate..."
ES6 equivalent: 
let container = 'mug'
,liquid = 'hot chocolate';
console.log(`Filling the ${container} with ${liquid}...`);
// -> "Filling the mug with hot chocolate..."
Lexical Scope and Variable safety.
CoffeeScript: 
inner = 10
value = 20
# literally an IIFE
do (inner = 5, value = 10) ->
console.log inner # 5
console.log inner # 10
ES6 equivalent:
(let, const)
let inner = 10;
const value = 20;
// A simple block
{
let inner = 5;
// not an error, despite being a constant in the outer scope
const value = 10;
console.log(inner); // 5
}
console.log(inner); // 10
Function binding
CoffeeScript: 
hero =
name: "Batman"
alterEgo: "Bruce Wayne"
enemies: ['Two-Face', 'Bane']
printEnemies: ->
@enemies.forEach((enemy) =>
console.log @name + " fights " + enemy);
hero.printEnemies()
# -> "Batman fights Two-Face"
# -> "Batman fights Bane"
ES6 equivalent: 
let hero = {
name: "Batman",
alterEgo: "Bruce Wayne",
enemies: ['Two-Face', 'Bane'],
printEnemies() {
this.enemies.forEach(enemy =>
console.log(this.name + " fights " + enemy));
}
};
hero.printEnemies();
// -> "Batman fights Two-Face"
// -> "Batman fights Bane"
Classes, Inheritance, and Super
CoffeeScript: 
class Person
constructor: (@name) ->
@movement = "walks"
move: (meters) ->
console.log "#{@name} #{@movement} #{meters}m."
class Hero extends Person
constructor: (@name, @movement) ->
move: ->
super 500
clark = new Person "Clark Kent"
superman = new Hero "Superman", "flies"
clark.move(100)
# -> Clark Kent walks 100m.
superman.move()
# -> Superman flies 500m.
ES6 equivalent: 
class Person {
constructor(name) {
this.name = name;
this.movement = "walks";
}
move(meters) {
console.log(`${this.name} ${this.movement} ${meters}m.`);
}
}
class Hero extends Person {
constructor(name, movement) {
this.name = name;
this.movement = movement;
}
move() {
super.move(500);
}
}
let clark = new Person("Clark Kent");
let superman = new Hero("Superman", "flies");
clark.move(100);
// -> Clark Kent walks 100m.
superman.move();
// -> Superman flies 500m.
Destructuring Assignment
CoffeeScript: 
hero =
name: "Spider-Man"
alterEgo: "Peter Benjamin Parker"
enemies: ["Electro", "Doctor Octopus"]
{name, alterEgo} = hero
# name = "Spider-Man"
# alterEgo = "Peter Benjamin Parker"
[head, tail...] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
# head = 1
# tail = [2, 3, 4, 5]
ES6 equivalent: 
let hero = {
name: "Spider-Man",
alterEgo: "Peter Benjamin Parker",
enemies: ["Electro", "Doctor Octopus"]
};
let {name, alterEgo} = hero;
// name = "Spider-Man"
// alterEgo = "Peter Benjamin Parker"
let [head, ...tail] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
// head = 1
// tail = [2, 3, 4, 5]
Array Slicing
CoffeeScript: 
part1 = list[0..3] # with end
part2 = list[0...3] # without end
part3 = list[..3] # start defaults to 0
part4 = list[3..] # end defaults to length
clone = list[..] # Clone the array
let part1 = list.slice(0, 3);
let part2 = list.slice(0, 4);
let part3 = list.slice(0, 3);
let part4 = list.slice(3);
// More than one way to clone an array
let clone;
clone = list.slice();
clone = list.concat();
Array Splicing
CoffeeScript: 
numbers[3..6] = [-3, -4, -5, -6]
numbers[3..6] = list
ES6 equivalent:
numbers.splice(3, 4, -3, -4, -5, -6)
[].splice.apply(numbers, [3, 4].concat(list))
Ranges
CoffeeScript: 
numbers = [0...5]
positives = [1...10]
ES6 equivalent:
let numbers = Array(5).map((_, i) => i);
let positives = Array(10).slice(1).map((_, i) => i);
// Or, you can make a custom range function (which is faster)
function range(start, end) {
if (end == null) [start, end] = [0, start];
const ret = [];
while (start < end) ret.push(start++);
return ret;
}
Chained Comparisons
CoffeeScript: 
cholesterol = 127
healthy = 60 < cholesterol < 200
ES6 equivalent:
let cholestrol = 127;
let healthy = 60 < cholestrol && cholestrol < 200;
Block Regular Expressions
CoffeeScript: 
OPERATOR = /// ^ (
?: [-=]> # function
| [-+*/%<>&|^!?=]= # compound assign / compare
| >>>=? # zero-fill right shift
| ([-+:])\1 # doubles
| ([&|<>])\2=? # logic / shift
| \?\. # soak access
| \.{2,3} # range or splat
) ///
ES6 equivalent:
// There isn't really any. This doesn't get the engine-related caching that
// regex literals often get.
let OPERATOR = new RegExp('^(' +
'?:[-=]>' + // function
'|[-+*/%<>&|^!?=]=' + // compound assign / compare
'|>>>=?' + // zero-fill right shift
'|([-+:])\\1' + // doubles
'|([&|<>])\\2=?' + // logic / shift
'|\\?\\.' + // soak access
'|\\.{2,3}' + // range or splat
')')
Operators and Aliases
CoffeeScript: 
- True:
true, yes, on
- False:
false, no, off
- And:
a && b, a and b
- Or:
a || b, a or b
- Not:
!a, not a
- Equality:
a == b, a is b
- Inequality:
a != b, a isnt b
- Current Instance:
@, this
- Instance Property:
@prop, this.prop
- Contains Property:
prop of object
- Contains Entry:
a in b
- Exponentiation:
x ** y
- Floor Division:
x // y
- Always-positive Modulo:
x %% y
ES6 Equivalents: 
- True:
true
- False:
false
- And:
a && b
- Or:
a || b
- Not:
!a
- Equality:
a === b
- Inequality:
a !== b
- Current Instance:
this
- Instance Property:
this.prop
- Contains Property:
prop in object
- Contains Entry:
a.indexOf(b) >= 0
- For strings (and arrays in ES7) only:
a.includes(b)
- For iterables in ES6 (such as some DOM nodes):
Array.from(a).indexOf(b) >= 0
- Exponentiation:
Math.exp(x, y)
- Always-positive Modulo:
(a % b + b) % b
Generators
CoffeeScript: 
identity = (iter) ->
yield from iter
range = lazyRange 10
range = identity range
ES6 equivalent: 
function *lazyRange(n) {
for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
yield i;
}
}
function* identity(iter) {
yield* iter
}
let range = lazyRange(10);
range = identity(range);
Loops and Iteration
CoffeeScript: 
isOkay = (entry) ->
# ...
# numbers 0-9
console.log i for i in [0..10]
# evens 0-8
console.log i for i in [0..10] by 2
node = getFirst()
node = node.next while isOkay node
console.log i for i in list
console.log i for i in list when isOkay i
# own object properties
for own prop, value of object
console.log prop
console.log object[prop]
ES6 equivalent: 
function isOkay(entry) {
// ...
}
// Standard `for` loops
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
console.log(i);
}
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i += 2) {
console.log(i);
}
let node = getFirst();
while (isOkay(node)) {
node = node.next;
}
// `for ... of` loops
for (let i of list) {
console.log(i);
}
for (let i of list) {
if (isOkay(i)) {
console.log(i);
}
}
for (let prop of Object.keys(object)) {
console.log(prop);
console.log(object[prop]);
}
// Array methods (last three)
Array.from(list).forEach(i => console.log(i))
Array.from(list).filter(isOkay).forEach(i => console.log(i));
Object.keys(object).forEach(prop => {
console.log(prop);
console.log(object[prop]);
});
Switch Statements
switch day
when "Mon" then go work
when "Tue" then go relax
when "Thu" then go iceFishing
when "Fri", "Sat"
if day is bingoDay
go bingo
go dancing
when "Sun" then go church
else go work
ES6 Equivalent: 
switch (day) {
case "Mon": go("work"); break;
case "Mon": go("work"); break;
case "Tue": go("relax"); break;
case "Thu": go("iceFishing"); break;
case "Fri": case "Sat":
if (day === "bingoDay") {
go("bingo");
go("dancing");
}
break;
case "Sun": go("church"); break;
default: go("work");
}
Contributors
- hemanth (creator)
- stoeffel
- impinball