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).
How do I check for null values in JavaScript? - Stack Overflow
What is the difference between null and undefined in JavaScript? - Stack Overflow
Why does JavaScript have both null and undefined?
'null' or 'undefined': What should I use if I want to clear the variable from the memory?
Is null false in JavaScript?
What is a null check?
What is a strict null check?
Videos
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).
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;
undefined means a variable has been declared but has not yet been assigned a value :
var testVar;
console.log(testVar); //shows undefined
console.log(typeof testVar); //shows undefinednull is an assignment value. It can be assigned to a variable as a representation of no value :
var testVar = null;
console.log(testVar); //shows null
console.log(typeof testVar); //shows objectFrom the preceding examples, it is clear that undefined and null are two distinct types: undefined is a type itself (undefined) while null is an object.
Proof :
console.log(null === undefined) // false (not the same type)
console.log(null == undefined) // true (but the "same value")
console.log(null === null) // true (both type and value are the same)and
null = 'value' // Uncaught SyntaxError: invalid assignment left-hand side
undefined = 'value' // 'value'
The difference can be explained with toilet tissue holder:
A non-zero value is like a holder with roll of toilet tissue and there's tissue still on the tube.
A zero value is like a holder with an empty toilet tissue tube.
A null value is like a holder that doesn't even have a tissue tube.
An undefined value is similar to the holder itself being missing.
Most programming languages have a single value to indicate the absence of something, which is often called null and is used to represent a variable that has no value associated with it.
But JavaScript is different. Someone who is just starting out with JavaScript or coming from a different language usually finds it hard to understand, why there are two values that indicate absence: null and undefined
Check out the post to learn how these two are different.
Please consider the following:
var myFruits = ['Banana', 'Apple', 'Strawberry'];// SOME CODING// SOME CODINGmyFruits = undefined; // Is this better?myFruits = null; // or is this better?
Further question, what is the distinction between the two? Is there any cases where only null is used or undefined is used? Thanks.
The question isn't really "why is there a null value in JS" - there is a null value of some sort in most languages and it is generally considered very useful.
The question is, "why is there an undefined value in JS". Major places where it is used:
- when you declare
var x;but don't assign to it,xholds undefined; - when your function gets fewer arguments than it declares;
- when you access a non-existent object property.
null would certainly have worked just as well for (1) and (2)*. (3) should really throw an exception straight away, and the fact that it doesn't, instead of returning this weird undefined that will fail later, is a big source of debugging difficulty.
*: you could also argue that (2) should throw an exception, but then you'd have to provide a better, more explicit mechanism for default/variable arguments.
However JavaScript didn't originally have exceptions, or any way to ask an object if it had a member under a certain name - the only way was (and sometimes still is) to access the member and see what you get. Given that null already had a purpose and you might well want to set a member to it, a different out-of-band value was required. So we have undefined, it's problematic as you point out, and it's another great JavaScript 'feature' we'll never be able to get rid of.
I actually use undefined when I want to unset the values of properties no longer in use but which I don't want to delete. Should I use null instead?
Yes. Keep undefined as a special value for signaling when other languages might throw an exception instead.
null is generally better, except on some IE DOM interfaces where setting something to null can give you an error. Often in this case setting to the empty string tends to work.
Best described here, but in summary:
undefined is the lack of a type and value, and null is the lack of a value.
Furthermore, if you're doing simple '==' comparisons, you're right, they come out the same. But try ===, which compares both type and value, and you'll notice the difference.