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In this project, we’ll build a program that allows users to click an animal on the screen in order to have a fun fact pop up.
Our program will display a selection of animals on the screen. We’ll be allowed to decide if we want to include a background or not. Clicking an animal will cause a fact to be randomly selected from a list of potential options. The selected fact will pop up on the screen. As we keep clicking, we’ll be able to see different facts.
Let’s get started!
If you get stuck during this project or would like to see an experienced developer work through it, click “Get Unstuck” to see a project walkthrough video.
Tasks
Tasks
Add a Title
Add a Title
1.
On line 1 in app.js you should see an import statement. This is importing the animals object from animals.js. Feel free to take a look at it now, but we’ll be coming back to it in later tasks.
For now, let’s import the React and ReactDOM libraries starting on line 2.
2.
Add a title constant that will hold the value of the title. For now, set its value to an empty string.
In addition, create an animalFacts constant to hold the JSX expression that we’ll want to be compiled. Set its value to a <h1> element that contains our title.
We still shouldn’t see anything in the browser yet! We’ll have to wait until we write our ReactDOM.render() method before anything shows up.
3.
We could fill in the empty string assigned to title if we wanted, but we could also leave it blank and let the JSX use a default value instead.
Using the ternary operator, let the <h1> heading use ‘Click an animal for a fun fact’ as the default if title is an empty string.
4.
It’s time to write our ReactDOM.render() method.
Let’s pass in animalFacts as the JSX expression that we want to be compiled and rendered. Click on index.html to find out what we should pass to document.getElementById().
When finished, click Save. If all goes well, we should see the text ‘Click an animal for a fun fact!’ appear on the screen!
Add a Background
Add a Background
5.
Let’s add a background!
Somewhere above where animalFacts is defined, create a constant named background. Set its value to a <img /> element.
Now let’s give it some attributes!
Give it a class of 'background'
Let’s use 'ocean' for alt.
Finally, use '/images/ocean.jpg' as the value of src.
6.
Let’s reformat the JSX expression stored in animalFacts to include the background variable.
Wrap the current <h1> element and our new background variable inside of <div></div> tags. Since the expression is going to be multiple lines, wrap it in parentheses.
Click Save. If everything is working as it should, we should see our background image showing up underneath the title!
Add an Array of Images
Add an Array of Images
7.
Use a for...in loop to iterate over the animals object that we’re importing on line 1. Before the animalFacts definition, define an images array. For each animal, add a new <img /> to that array.
Assuming animal is the placeholder variable in your for...in loop, each image should have the following attributes:
key: {animal}
className: 'animal'
alt: {animal}
src: {animals[animal].image}
aria-label: {animal}
role: 'button'
8.
Now that we have our array of images, let’s inject it into the JSX expression.
Within the animalFacts JSX, underneath {background}, create a <div>. Give it a className attribute and set it equal to 'animals'. Nest the array of images inside of this element.
Finally, click Save. We should see our animals!
Adding Fun Facts
Adding Fun Facts
9.
Now that we have our animals displaying on the screen, we’re ready to add an event listener! But first, let’s write a function to handle this event.
Create a function displayFact() that takes one parameter e, the event. We want this function to pick a random fun fact based on the selected animal.
Inside of the function, use e.target.alt to get the name of the animal being clicked.
Generate a random index and use it to access an element in the animal’s .facts array.
Save the fun fact in a variable.
10.
We need a place to display our fact. Create an empty <p> element in animalFacts and give it an id attribute equal to 'fact'.
11.
We’ll need to include the event listener with each <img> and edit the event listener so that it displays the fact in our new <p> element.
In the for...in loop, inside each <img>, add an onClick event listener that calls displayFact.
Inside displayFact() use document.getElementById('fact') to grab the <p> element where we’ll add our fact. Change the .innerHTML of the <p> element to our randomly selected fact.
Now save the code and click on an animal. We should see a fact pop up on the screen!
Extra Credit
Extra Credit
12.
Let’s add one last feature to our awesome app!
Create a showBackground constant. You can set its value to either true or false.
If showBackground is true, background should show up. If it’s false, it should not. Use the && operator in animalFacts to implement this feature.
Toggle the value of showBackground between true and false and save the code to see if you got it working!
BONUS: In addition to the AND && operator, we can use the OR || operator. Given a list of variables or expressions, || will return the value of the first one whose boolean evaluates to true.
Considering the boolean of an empty string is false can you think of a way to use || to replace the ternary operator in the heading?
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