Is there a null-coalescing (Elvis) operator or safe navigation operator in javascript?

Question

I'll explain by example:

Elvis Operator (?: )

The "Elvis operator" is a shortening of Java's ternary operator. One instance of where this is handy is for returning a 'sensible default' value if an expression resolves to false or null. A simple example might look like this:

def gender = user.male ? "male" : "female"  //traditional ternary operator usage

def displayName = user.name ?: "Anonymous"  //more compact Elvis operator

Safe Navigation Operator (?.)

The Safe Navigation operator is used to avoid a NullPointerException. Typically when you have a reference to an object you might need to verify that it is not null before accessing methods or properties of the object. To avoid this, the safe navigation operator will simply return null instead of throwing an exception, like so:

def user = User.find( "admin" )           //this might be null if 'admin' does not exist
def streetName = user?.address?.street    //streetName will be null if user or user.address is null - no NPE thrown

Answer 1

You can use the logical 'OR' operator in place of the Elvis operator:

For example displayname = user.name || "Anonymous" .

But Javascript currently doesn't have the other functionality. I'd recommend looking at CoffeeScript if you want an alternative syntax. It has some shorthand that is similar to what you are looking for.

For example The Existential Operator

zip = lottery.drawWinner?().address?.zipcode

Function shortcuts

()->  // equivalent to function(){}

Sexy function calling

func 'arg1','arg2' // equivalent to func('arg1','arg2')

There is also multiline comments and classes. Obviously you have to compile this to javascript or insert into the page as <script type='text/coffeescript>' but it adds a lot of functionality :) . Using <script type='text/coffeescript'> is really only intended for development and not production.