Is there a standard function to check for null, undefined, or blank variables in JavaScript?

javascript null comparison undefined
Alex picture Alex · Apr 1, 2011 · Viewed 2M times · Source

Is there a universal JavaScript function that checks that a variable has a value and ensures that it's not undefined or null? I've got this code, but I'm not sure if it covers all cases:

function isEmpty(val){
    return (val === undefined || val == null || val.length <= 0) ? true : false;
}

Answer

jAndy picture jAndy · Apr 1, 2011

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

if( value ) {
}

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.

Further read: http://typeofnan.blogspot.com/2011/01/typeof-is-fast.html

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