Do you know that null is an object in JavaScript?
Just an interesting observation on null in JavaScript!
Interesting, isn't it? In JavaScript, null is an object. Here is the screenshot from Chrome Developer Tool.
Background ◀️
I have started reading You Don't Know JS by Mr. Kyle Simpson and in chapter 2, I got to know something interesting about null that I wanted to share in a quick blog with all of you.
Why? 😮
The built-in types available in JavaScript are as follows.
stringnumberbooleannullandundefinedobjectsymbol
To know the type of data, we can use one operator called typeof. This operator when used with data yields the type of that data. Let's try to find out if we get types correctly for different types of data.
On the CodePen (https://codepen.io/taditdash/pen/GRoxxGK) embedded above, it clearly shows an appropriate type for different data types except for null. This is weird but true.
Actually, this is a bug and it is like this from the beginning. Now, this can't be fixed as a lot of code is depending on it for a long time. If this is going to be fixed, it will definitely break in legacy apps.
Let me know! 🙏
What do you think? Do you think it is a feature or a bug? How have used this as an advantage?
Stay Updated 📧 📰
If you enjoyed reading the blog and you would like to see more of such blogs in the future, do "Subscribe to my newsletter and never miss my upcoming articles" that you see here on top of this page.
Updates 👍
After I posted this blog on social media, I got one reply from one of the most popular Gurus Mr. Sanjay Vyas, who is well known for his unique style of teaching with concept visualization. Here is his website - https://conceptvisuals.in/
Here is the screenshot from Twitter.
This means null looks like an object, however, it does not have the characteristics. This brings a lot of value to its implementation where the developer can design the code keeping these caveats in mind.
This is the beauty of the community, where like-minded people share knowledge between themselves. I am very lucky to be a part of the tech community where I am meeting people like Sanjay Sir every day.
Thank you Sanjay Sir and everyone who read this blog. Have a nice day. 😃