JavaScript Data Types

 Data types

A variable in JavaScript can contain any data. A variable can at one moment be a string and at another be a number:

// no error
let message = "hello";
message = 123456;

Programming languages that allow such things are called “dynamically typed”, meaning that there are data types, but variables are not bound to any of them.
There are seven basic data types in JavaScript. Here, we’ll cover them in general and in the next chapters we’ll talk about each of them in detail.

A number

let n = 123;
n = 12.345;

The number type represents both integer and floating point numbers.
There are many operations for numbers, e.g. multiplication * , division / , addition + , subtraction - , and so on.
Besides regular numbers, there are so-called “special numeric values” which also belong to this data type: Infinity , -Infinity and NaN .

Infinity represents the mathematical Infinity ∞. It is a special value that’s greater than any number.

We can get it as a result of division by zero:

alert( 1 / 0 ); // Infinity

Or just reference it directly:

alert( Infinity ); // Infinity

NaN represents a computational error. It is a result of an incorrect or an undefined mathematical operation, for instance:

alert( "not a number" / 2 ); // NaN, such division is erroneous

NaN is sticky. Any further operation on NaN returns NaN :

alert( "not a number" / 2 + 5 ); // NaN

So, if there’s a NaN somewhere in a mathematical expression, it propagates to the whole result.

Special numeric values formally belong to the “number” type. Of course they are not numbers in the common sense of this word.

We’ll see more about working with numbers in the chapter Numbers.

A string

A string in JavaScript must be surrounded by quotes.

let str = "Hello";
let str2 = 'Single quotes are ok too';
let phrase = `can embed ${str}`;

In JavaScript, there are 3 types of quotes.
1. Double quotes: "Hello" .
2. Single quotes: 'Hello' .
3. Backticks: `Hello` .

Double and single quotes are “simple” quotes. There’s no difference between them in JavaScript.
Backticks are “extended functionality” quotes. They allow us to embed variables and expressions into a string by wrapping them in ${…} , for example:

let name = "John";
// embed a variable
alert( `Hello, ${name}!` ); // Hello, John!
// embed an expression
alert( `the result is ${1 + 2}` ); // the result is 3

The expression inside ${…} is evaluated and the result becomes a part of the string. We can put anything in there: a variable like name or an arithmetical expression like 1 + 2 or something more complex.
Please note that this can only be done in backticks. Other quotes don’t have this embedding functionality!

alert( "the result is ${1 + 2}" ); // the result is ${1 + 2} (double quotes do nothing)

We’ll cover strings more thoroughly in the chapter Strings.

A boolean (logical type)

The boolean type has only two values: true and false .
This type is commonly used to store yes/no values: true means “yes, correct”, and false means “no, incorrect”.
For instance:

let nameFieldChecked = true; // yes, name field is checked
let ageFieldChecked = false; // no, age field is not checked

Boolean values also come as a result of comparisons:

let isGreater = 4 > 1;
alert( isGreater ); // true (the comparison result is "yes")

We’ll cover booleans more deeply in the chapter Logical operators.

The “null” value

The special null value does not belong to any of the types described above.
It forms a separate type of its own which contains only the null value:

let age = null;

In JavaScript, null is not a “reference to a non-existing object” or a “null pointer” like in some other languages.
It’s just a special value which represents “nothing”, “empty” or “value unknown”.
The code above states that age is unknown or empty for some reason.

The “undefined” value

The special value undefined also stands apart. It makes a type of its own, just like null .
The meaning of undefined is “value is not assigned”.
If a variable is declared, but not assigned, then its value is undefined :

let x;
alert(x); // shows "undefined"

Technically, it is possible to assign undefined to any variable:

let x = 123;
x = undefined;
alert(x); // "undefined"

…But we don’t recommend doing that. Normally, we use null to assign an “empty” or “unknown” value to a variable, and we use undefined for checks like seeing if a variable has been assigned.

Objects and Symbols

The object type is special.
All other types are called “primitive” because their values can contain only a single thing (be it a string or a number or whatever). In contrast, objects are used to store collections of data and more complex entities. We’ll deal with them later in the chapter Objects after we learn more about primitives.

The symbol type is used to create unique identifiers for objects. We have to mention it here for completeness, but it’s better to study this type after objects.

The typeof operator

The typeof operator returns the type of the argument. It’s useful when we want to process values of different types differently or just want to do a quick check.
It supports two forms of syntax:
1. As an operator: typeof x .
2. As a function: typeof(x) .
In other words, it works with parentheses or without them. The result is the same.
The call to typeof x returns a string with the type name:

typeof undefined // "undefined"
typeof 0 // "number"
typeof true // "boolean"
typeof "foo" // "string"
typeof Symbol("id") // "symbol"
typeof Math // "object" (1)
typeof null // "object" (2)
typeof alert // "function" (3)

The last three lines may need additional explanation:
1. Math is a built-in object that provides mathematical operations. We will learn it in the chapter Numbers. Here, it serves just as an example of an object.
2. The result of typeof null is "object" . That’s wrong. It is an officially recognized error in typeof , kept for compatibility. Of course, null is not an object. It is a special value with a separate type of its own. So, again, this is an error in the language.
3. The result of typeof alert is "function" , because alert is a function. We’ll study functions in the next chapters where we’ll also see that there’s no special “function” type in JavaScript. Functions belong to the object type. But typeof treats them differently, returning "function" . That’s not quite correct, but very convenient in practice.

Summary

There are 7 basic data types in JavaScript.

• number for numbers of any kind: integer or floating-point.
  
• string for strings. A string may have one or more characters, there’s no separate singlecharacter type.
  
• boolean for true / false .
  
• null for unknown values – a standalone type that has a single value null .
  
• undefined for unassigned values – a standalone type that has a single value
  
• undefined .
  
• object for more complex data structures.
  
• symbol for unique identifiers.

The typeof operator allows us to see which type is stored in a variable.

• Two forms: typeof x or typeof(x) .
  
• Returns a string with the name of the type, like "string" .
  
• For null returns "object" – this is an error in the language, it’s not actually an object.

In the next chapters, we’ll concentrate on primitive values and once we’re familiar with them, we’ll move on to objects.