Workshop › Typing Rain › Step 11 of 33

Lock on to a word

What we are doing

Which word are you typing? You never say; the game works it out. The first letter you type locks on to a word starting with it. If several match, the lowest one is the most urgent.

```js
let target // the word being typed, or null
let typed // how many letters of the target are typed

  target = null
  typed = 0

function type(key) {
  if (!target) {
    // Lock on to the lowest word starting with this letter: it is the most urgent.
    const options = words.filter((w) => w.text[0] === key).sort((a, b) => b.y - a.y)
    if (options.length === 0) return
    target = options[0]
    typed = 0
  }
}
```

What it means

target is null (nothing) until a word is chosen; typed counts its letters done.
w.text[0] is a word's first letter. filter keeps the words starting with key.
sort((a, b) => b.y - a.y) orders them by y, largest first, so options[0] is the lowest.
With no match, return leaves at once.

Your turn

Under let words write let target and let typed.
In reset, under words = [], write target = null and typed = 0.
Under reset, after an empty line, write type.

Skills: Game states, Arrays and objects

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