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Code for Java Script Cube / Box Volume Calculator

By Stephen Bucaro

Note: Use the same measuring system units for all entries. In other words don't mix inches and feet or centimeters and meters. The output units will be cubic units of the same measuring system.

In this article I'll show you how to use to Java Script to create a Cube / Box Volume calculator. With this calculator, the user inputs the side dimension of a cube or the height, width and length of a box, and the calculator will return the volume. I'll explain everything in detail so that you can learn Java Script and modify the code for your own purposes.

I have programmed many Java Script calculators and discovered that, the process of coding any calculator can be broken down into a step-by-step procedure. Shown below are the steps to build a calculator.

1. Acquire the formula
2. Determine the inputs and outputs
3. Design the html form
4. Write Java Script to process the form
5. Test and Final Touches

Step 1: Cube and Box Formulas

The formula for the volume of a cube is side³

The formula for the volume of a box is height x width x length

Step 2. The inputs and outputs

For the cube volume calculator, since by definition all sides of a cube have the same length, the user needs only to enter the length of a side. However, a box can have different lengths for height, width and length, so the user will need to enter all three dimensions.

The actual units of measurement are irrelevant in a volume calculator because sides are always in length units while the volume is in cubic units of the same measuring system. One problem might be if the user enters different units in the box volume calculator. For example, the user can't enter the height in feet and the width in inches.

We could design a calculator where the user indicates the units entered for each input value and the desired output units and then have the code convert all the input lengths to the desired output units. In that case, this example would consist of 99 percent code involved in units conversion. So to keep it simple, instead we can just add a note instructing the user to use the same units for all values.