They are not equivalent. The first will execute the block following the if statement if myVar is truthy (i.e. evaluates to true in a conditional), while the second will execute the block if myVar is any value other than null.

The only values that are not truthy in JavaScript are the following (a.k.a. falsy values):

  • null
  • undefined
  • 0
  • "" (the empty string)
  • false
  • NaN
Answer from Tim Down on Stack Overflow
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If you are designing an API, you should likely accept null and undefined as equivalent inputs, because many codebases have stylistic rules about when to use null or undefined by default. When checking for null or undefined, beware of the differences between equality (==) and identity (===) operators, as the former performs type-conversion. ... typeof null; // "object" (not "null" for legacy reasons) typeof undefined; // "undefined" null === undefined; // false null == undefined; // true null === null; // true null == null; // true !null; // true Number.isNaN(1 + null); // false Number.isNaN(1 + undefined); // true
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August 5, 2025 - Example: In this example we are using typeof operator with !== undefined and !== null checks if a variable is not null in JavaScript.
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How to Check for Null in JavaScript | Built In
The value null is falsy, but empty objects are truthy, so typeof maybeNull === "object" && !maybeNull is an easy way to check to see that a value is not null. Finally, to check if a value has been declared and assigned a value that is neither ...
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April 11, 2019 - What are your thoughts? How are you checking for empty or null values? Bonus if you comment with examples in other programming languages! ... It's more a bright exemple of how to make simple things looks complicated because in javascript if(tokenInfo) will check if variable is either :
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February 14, 2025 - Learn how to write a null check function in JavaScript and explore the differences between the null and undefined attributes.
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tutorialspoint.com โ€บ How-do-I-check-for-null-values-in-JavaScript
How do I check for null values in JavaScript?
The typeof operator may be used to determine the data type of a JavaScript variable. Here we use the typeof operator with the null operator. The (!variable) means the value is not null and if it is checked with the typeof operator variable which has the data type of an object then the value is null.
Top answer
1 of 16
1093

JavaScript is very flexible with regards to checking for "null" values. I'm guessing you're actually looking for empty strings, in which case this simpler code will work:

if(!pass || !cpass || !email || !cemail || !user){

Which will check for empty strings (""), null, undefined, false and the numbers 0 and NaN.

Please note that if you are specifically checking for numbers, it is a common mistake to miss 0 with this method, and num !== 0 is preferred (or num !== -1 or ~num (hacky code that also checks against -1)) for functions that return -1, e.g. indexOf).

2 of 16
728

To check for null SPECIFICALLY you would use this:

if (variable === null)

This test will ONLY pass for null and will not pass for "", undefined, false, 0, or NaN.

Additionally, I've provided absolute checks for each "false-like" value (one that would return true for !variable).

Note, for some of the absolute checks, you will need to implement use of the absolutely equals: === and typeof.

I've created a JSFiddle here to show all of the individual tests working

Here is the output of each check:

Null Test:

if (variable === null)

- variable = ""; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (true) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



Empty String Test:

if (variable === '')

- variable = ''; (true) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number




Undefined Test:

if (typeof variable == "undefined")

-- or --

if (variable === undefined)

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (true) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



False Test:

if (variable === false)

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (true) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



Zero Test:

if (variable === 0)

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (true) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (false) typeof variable = number



NaN Test:

if (typeof variable == 'number' && !parseFloat(variable) && variable !== 0)

-- or --

if (isNaN(variable))

- variable = ''; (false) typeof variable = string

- variable = null; (false) typeof variable = object

- variable = undefined; (false) typeof variable = undefined

- variable = false; (false) typeof variable = boolean

- variable = 0; (false) typeof variable = number

- variable = NaN; (true) typeof variable = number

As you can see, it's a little more difficult to test against NaN;

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Iโ€™m the maintainer of the @supercharge/goodies package providing convenient helper functions for Node.js and JavaScript. This package comes with a handy isNullish(value) method determining whether the given value is null or undefined: const { isNullish } = require('@supercharge/goodies') isNullish(null) // true isNullish(undefined) // true isNullish(0) // false isNullish('') // false isNullish({}) // false isNullish([]) // false isNullish(false) // false ยท Notice: the isNullish method is fully typed and your code editor or IDE knows that the provided value is either null/undefined or not.
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Copied!const a = 'hello'; if (a) { console.log(`๐Ÿšจ a is NOT false, 0, empty string, null, undefined, NaN`); } else { console.log(`โ›”๏ธ๏ธ a is ONE OF false, 0, empty string, null, undefined, NaN`); } In this example, we check if the value stored in the variable a is truthy. Truthy are all values that are not falsy. The falsy values in JavaScript are: false, 0, "", null, undefined, NaN.
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Is there a better way to check if variable is null value or not in JavaScript? (Server-Side JavaScript and NodeJS forum at Coderanch)
It's possible to assign certain ... on what a represents and what you want your application to do with it: 1) Check that a is exactly null: if (a === null) { 2) Check that a is similar to null: if (a == null) { 3) Check that a is falsey: if (!a) { The most common approach ...
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Top answer
1 of 16
5789

You can just check if the variable has a truthy value or not. That means

if (value) {
    // do something..
}

will evaluate to true if value is not:

  • null
  • undefined
  • NaN
  • empty string ("")
  • 0
  • false

The above list represents all possible falsy values in ECMA-/Javascript. Find it in the specification at the ToBoolean section.

Furthermore, if you do not know whether a variable exists (that means, if it was declared) you should check with the typeof operator. For instance

if (typeof foo !== 'undefined') {
    // foo could get resolved and it's defined
}

If you can be sure that a variable is declared at least, you should directly check if it has a truthy value like shown above.

2 of 16
457

This question has two interpretations:

Check if the variable has a value
Check if the variable has a truthy value

The following answers both.

In JavaScript, a value could be nullish or not nullish, and a value could be falsy or truthy.
Nullish values are a proper subset of falsy values:

 โ•ญโ”€ nullish โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฎ โ•ญโ”€ not nullish โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฎ
โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ฌโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ undefined โ”‚ null โ”‚ false โ”‚ 0 โ”‚ "" โ”‚ ... โ”‚ true โ”‚ 1 โ”‚ "hello" โ”‚ ... โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”ดโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜
 โ•ฐโ”€ falsy โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฏ โ•ฐโ”€ truthy โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ•ฏ

Check if value is nullish (undefined or null)

Use one of the following depending on your coding style:

if (value == null)                         { /* value is nullish */ }
if (value === undefined || value === null) { /* value is nullish */ }
if (value == undefined)                    { /* value is nullish */ }
if ((value ?? null) === null)              { /* value is nullish */ }

Notes:

  • The == operator works because it has a special case for null vs undefined comparison
  • The === operator is more readable (opinion based), eqeqeq friendly and allows checking for undefined and null separately
  • The first and third examples work identically, however the third one is rarely seen in production code
  • The fourth example uses nullish coalescing operator to change nullish values to null for straight forward comparison

Check if value is not nullish

if (value != null)                         { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }
if (value !== undefined && value !== null) { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }
if (value != undefined)                    { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }
if ((value ?? null) !== null)              { /* value is not nullish, although it could be falsy */ }

Check if value is falsy

Use the ! operator:

if (!value) { /* value is falsy */ }

Check if value is truthy

if (value) { /* value is truthy */ }

Data validation

The nullish, falsy and truthy checks cannot be used for data validation on their own. For example, 0 (falsy) is valid age of a person and -1 (truthy) is not. Additional logic needs to be added on case-by-case basis. Some examples:

/*
 * check if value is greater than/equal to 0
 * note that we cannot use truthy check here because 0 must be allowed
 */
[null, -1, 0, 1].forEach(num => {
  if (num != null && num >= 0) {
    console.log("%o is not nullish and greater than/equal to 0", num);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", num);
  }
});

/*
 * check if value is not empty-or-whitespace string
 */
[null, "", " ", "hello"].forEach(str => {
  if (str && /\S/.test(str)) {
    console.log("%o is truthy and has non-whitespace characters", str);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", str);
  }
});

/*
 * check if value is not an empty array
 * check for truthy before checking the length property
 */
[null, [], [1]].forEach(arr => {
  if (arr && arr.length) {
    console.log("%o is truthy and has one or more items", arr);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", arr);
  }
});

/*
 * check if value is not an empty array
 * using optional chaining operator to make sure that the value is not nullish
 */
[null, [], [1]].forEach(arr => {
  if (arr?.length) {
    console.log("%o is not nullish and has one or more items", arr);
  } else {
    console.log("%o is bad", arr);
  }
});
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Scaler
scaler.com โ€บ topics โ€บ javascript-check-null
JavaScript Program to Check for Null - Scaler Topics
December 14, 2022 - In this approach, we will use the strict equality operator '===' to check if the variable contains null or not.