Empty string, undefined, null, ...
To check for a truthy value:
if (strValue) {
// strValue was non-empty string, true, 42, Infinity, [], ...
}
To check for a falsy value:
if (!strValue) {
// strValue was empty string, false, 0, null, undefined, ...
}
Empty string (only!)
To check for exactly an empty string, compare for strict equality against "" using the === operator:
if (strValue === "") {
// strValue was empty string
}
To check for not an empty string strictly, use the !== operator:
if (strValue !== "") {
// strValue was not an empty string
}
Answer from Brian Dukes on Stack OverflowEmpty string, undefined, null, ...
To check for a truthy value:
if (strValue) {
// strValue was non-empty string, true, 42, Infinity, [], ...
}
To check for a falsy value:
if (!strValue) {
// strValue was empty string, false, 0, null, undefined, ...
}
Empty string (only!)
To check for exactly an empty string, compare for strict equality against "" using the === operator:
if (strValue === "") {
// strValue was empty string
}
To check for not an empty string strictly, use the !== operator:
if (strValue !== "") {
// strValue was not an empty string
}
For checking if a variable is falsey or if it has length attribute equal to zero (which for a string, means it is empty), I use:
function isEmpty(str) {
return (!str || str.length === 0 );
}
(Note that strings aren't the only variables with a length attribute, arrays have them as well, for example.)
Alternativaly, you can use the (not so) newly optional chaining and arrow functions to simplify:
const isEmpty = (str) => (!str?.length);
It will check the length, returning undefined in case of a nullish value, without throwing an error. In the case of an empty value, zero is falsy and the result is still valid.
For checking if a variable is falsey or if the string only contains whitespace or is empty, I use:
function isBlank(str) {
return (!str || /^\s*$/.test(str));
}
If you want, you can monkey-patch the String prototype like this:
String.prototype.isEmpty = function() {
// This doesn't work the same way as the isEmpty function used
// in the first example, it will return true for strings containing only whitespace
return (this.length === 0 || !this.trim());
};
console.log("example".isEmpty());
Note that monkey-patching built-in types are controversial, as it can break code that depends on the existing structure of built-in types, for whatever reason.
Videos
I've seen so many methods; but I am looking for a simple style I can adopt in my code to keep it consistent:
if (PostCodeInformation !== null PostCodeInformation !== undefined){
}
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.
This question has two interpretations:
Check if the variable has a value
Check if the variable has a truthy valueThe 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:
โญโ nullish โโโโโโโฎ โญโ not nullish โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฎ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโฌโโโโฌโโโโโฌโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโฌโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโ
โ undefined โ null โ false โ 0 โ "" โ ... โ true โ 1 โ "hello" โ ... โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโดโโโโดโโโโโดโโโโโโดโโโโโโโดโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโ
โฐโ falsy โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฏ โฐโ truthy โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโฏ
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
nullfor 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);
}
});
If you truly want to confirm that a variable is not null and not an empty string specifically, you would write:
if(data !== null && data !== '') {
// do something
}
Notice that I changed your code to check for type equality (!==|===).
If, however you just want to make sure, that a code will run only for "reasonable" values, then you can, as others have stated already, write:
if (data) {
// do something
}
Since, in javascript, both null values, and empty strings, equals to false (i.e. null == false).
The difference between those 2 parts of code is that, for the first one, every value that is not specifically null or an empty string, will enter the if. But, on the second one, every true-ish value will enter the if: false, 0, null, undefined and empty strings, would not.
Instead of using
if(data !== null && data !== '' && data!==undefined) {
// do something
}
You can use below simple code
if(Boolean(value)){
// do something
}
- Values that are intuitively โemptyโ, like 0, an empty string, null, undefined, and NaN, become false
- Other values become true
Starting with:
return (!value || value == undefined || value == "" || value.length == 0);
Looking at the last condition, if value == "", it's length MUST be 0. Therefore drop it:
return (!value || value == undefined || value == "");
But wait! In JS, an empty string is false. Therefore, drop value == "":
return (!value || value == undefined);
And !undefined is true, so that check isn't needed. So we have:
return (!value);
And we don't need parentheses:
return !value
Q.E.D.
There are just a few revisions I would make.
First, always use === instead of == in Javascript. You can read more about that on Stack Overflow.
Second, since undefined is mutable, I would reccomend using
typeof value === "undefined"
instead of
value === undefined
Third, I would remove the !value and value === "" conditions. They are redundant.
My Revision
I would use a slightly different approach than you:
String.isNullOrEmpty = function(value) {
return !(typeof value === "string" && value.length > 0);
}
This checks if the type of the value is "string" (and thus non-null and not undefined), and if it is not empty. If so, it is not null or empty.
Note that this returns true for non-string inputs, which might not be what you want if you wanted to throw an error for an unexpected input type.