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.
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);
}
});
Videos
Is null false in JavaScript?
What is a null check?
What is a strict null check?
You can use the qualities of the abstract equality operator to do this:
if (variable == null){
// your code here.
}
Because null == undefined is true, the above code will catch both null and undefined.
The standard way to catch null and undefined simultaneously is this:
if (variable == null) {
// do something
}
--which is 100% equivalent to the more explicit but less concise:
if (variable === undefined || variable === null) {
// do something
}
When writing professional JS, it's taken for granted that type equality and the behavior of == vs === is understood. Therefore we use == and only compare to null.
Edit again
The comments suggesting the use of typeof are simply wrong. Yes, my solution above will cause a ReferenceError if the variable doesn't exist. This is a good thing. This ReferenceError is desirable: it will help you find your mistakes and fix them before you ship your code, just like compiler errors would in other languages. Use try/catch if you are working with input you don't have control over.
You should not have any references to undeclared variables in your code.
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){
}
Hi, all, I often do stuff like this in my code, to check for a variable being not null and not undefined.
// check if value is not null and not undefined
if (value) {
...
}However, I'm now thinking this can leads to bugs, because of 0, "", false and NaN also being falsy.
What is a better way to check a variable is not null and not undefined? I could use this I think, wondering if there is something shorter than this:
if (typeof value !== 'undefined' || value !== null) {
...
}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):
nullundefined0""(the empty string)falseNaN
Here is how you can test if a variable is not NULL:
if (myVar !== null) {...}
the block will be executed if myVar is not null.. it will be executed if myVar is undefined or false or 0 or NaN or anything else..
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
}
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.