Help finding a "SyntaxError: Unexpected Token"

[Huang Xing]

I have recently started trying to learn Java. I've been using Codecademy.com because word of mouth has told me that that is the best. I am stuck on the part with the Rock, Paper, Scissors game (where the computer chooses one and you choose one and it tells you the winner). I am on part 8/9, and am done with the meat of the code. I just have one problem, where whenever i try to finish it, it says "SyntaxError: Unexpected Token". I have methodically erased all parentheses and brackets one-by-one, in case i had an extra one somewhere. it hasn't worked. If one of you could look at my code for me and tell me what was wrong, that'd be great.

var userChoice = prompt("Do you choose rock, paper or scissors?");
var computerChoice = Math.random();
if (computerChoice < 0.34) {
	computerChoice = "rock";
} else if(computerChoice <= 0.67) {
	computerChoice = "paper";
}else {
	computerChoice = "scissors";
} console.log("Computer: " + computerChoice);
var compare = function(choice1, choice2){
    if (choice1 === choice2)
    {return "The result is a tie!"}
    else if (choice1 === "rock") {
        if(choice2 === "scissors")
        {return "rock wins"}
        else {return "paper wins"}}
    else if (choice1 === "paper"){
        if (choice2 === "rock"){
            return "paper wins"}
        else {return "scissors wins"}}
    else (choice1 === "scissors")
        if (choice2 === "rock")
            {return "rock wins"}
        else {return "scissors wins"}};
function compare(userChoice, computerChoice);

[Ole Sandum]

This looks like JavaScript. Are you sure what you are learning is Java?

[Huang Xing]

Oh lord it is Javascript. I'm not sure what the difference is but it can't be good. I thought that Javascript was just the technical term for Java.

[Jesper de Jong]

JavaScript and Java are two different programming languages, which happen to have the word "Java" in common in their names - because of historical reasons.

Java and JavaScript are just as related as ham and hamster...

[Anindya Roy]

look http://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/javascript/article.php/3470971/Java-vs-JavaScript.htm

[Jesper de Jong]

Anindya Roy wrote:look http://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/javascript/article.php/3470971/Java-vs-JavaScript.htm

Not a very good article.

I don't know when it was written (I can't find a publication date on it) but a number of ideas in the article are very out of date. For example, JavaScript is not only used inside HTML pages. It's also used in other environments. It talks about Java as if it's all about applets. Applets were popular in 1999, but nowadays almost nobody uses Java for programming applets.

Also:

Article wrote:In my opinion, JavaScript's main benefit is that it can be understood by the common human. It is much easier and more robust than Java.

"Much easier" and "more robust" (whatever that means) than Java? I don't think so.

The author of the article seems to be unaware that Java's popularity is mainly in server-side software, not in components that run inside browsers. The article has been written by someone who knows almost nothing about Java.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

Let's get back to the original question and see if we can sort out that error.
I shall also move this discussion to our JavaScript forum.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Which line was the error reported on?

[Huang Xing]

Thanks for moving it to the JavaScript forums, campbell. And there was no line reported. It simply said "SyntaxError: Unexpected token ". I feel like maybe i have an extra space somewhere in there, as usually the Codecademy tells you what shouldn't be there (i.e., if i had an extra bracket, it would say "SyntaxError: Unexpected token {".

[Bear Bibeault]

Open the developer tools in the browser. All modern browsers have very powerful JavaScript debuggers and the console should give you much more information about the nature of the error.

Also when posting code, please UseCodeTags.

[Bear Bibeault]

I've gone ahead and added the code tags for you. See how much easier the code is to read?

Firstly, your formatting is inconsistent and makes reading the code a lot harder than it needs to be.

For example the following is a travesty:

if(choice2 === "scissors")  
        {return "rock wins"}  

Be sure to write such constructs as:

if (choice2 === "scissors")  {
    return "rock wins";
} 

And finally, your last line is a syntax error. You use the function keyword when declaring the function, not when calling the function.

[Bear Bibeault]

Jesper de Jong wrote:Java and JavaScript are just as related as ham and hamster...

Obligatory comic:

[Bear Bibeault]

But I guess an important question has remained unanswered: are you wanting to be learning Java or JavaScript?

If Java, you are barking up the wrong tree.

Though be aware that JavaScript is not a bad technology to have under your belt. Its importance and scope has skyrocketed over the past few years.

(And is one of the reasons that the previously linked article is so horribly wrong and bad.)

[Huang Xing]

So, as a prospective game designer, is Javascript fairly useless for me(at the time)? I just want to see how i am at coding, if I can do it without rage quitting over bugs every five minutes. I dont care if i can make really cool websites with javascript, i want to make games. I'll probably finish learning it eventually, even if it is unrelated to game design.

also: big shoutout to Bear Bibeault for fixing it

[Bear Bibeault]

What kind of games? Modern JavaScript can be used for creating in-browser games. Not so sure about desktop games running in NodeJS or the Java JVM (the Java VM has a JavaScript interpreter), but it could be.

Console games? Then neither.

Mobile? If so, what platform?

So, we need some more information about your goal before being able to answer.

[Huang Xing]

Mobile, probably. iOS and android. Also in browser, later on.

[Bear Bibeault]

For iOS you'll need to learn Swift (or Objective-C if old-school).

Android wil use Java* and the Android libraries.

In-browser, JavaScript is the right path.


* The code is Java, but converted to run on Dalvik.

[Huang Xing]

Awesome. Thanks a lot for all the help