Datatypes in Javascript

typeof

typeof is the ‘official’ function that one uses to get the type in javascript, however in certain cases it might yield some unexpected results …

1. Strings

typeof "String" or
typeof Date(2011,01,01)

“string”

2. Numbers

typeof 42

“number”

3. Bool

typeof true (valid values true and false)

“boolean”

4. Object

typeof {} or
typeof [] or
typeof null or
typeof /aaa/ or
typeof Error()

“object”

5. Function

typeof function(){}

“function”

6. Undefined

var var1; typeof var1

“undefined”

Getting object type by constructor name

When one with typeof operator one gets type object it falls into somewhat wast category…

In practice you might need to narrow it down to what sort of ‘object’ it actually is and one way to do it is to use object constructor name to get what flavour of object it actually is: Object.prototype.toString.call(yourObject)

1. String

Object.prototype.toString.call("String")

“[object String]”

2. Number

Object.prototype.toString.call(42)

“[object Number]”

3. Bool

Object.prototype.toString.call(true)

“[object Boolean]”

4. Object

Object.prototype.toString.call(Object()) or
Object.prototype.toString.call({})

“[object Object]”

5. Function

Object.prototype.toString.call(function(){})

“[object Function]”

6. Date

Object.prototype.toString.call(new Date(2015,10,21))

“[object Date]”

7. Regex

Object.prototype.toString.call(new RegExp()) or
Object.prototype.toString.call(/foo/);

“[object RegExp]”

8. Array

Object.prototype.toString.call([]);

“[object Array]”

9. Null

Object.prototype.toString.call(null);

“[object Null]”

10. Undefined

Object.prototype.toString.call(undefined);

“[object Undefined]”

11. Error

Object.prototype.toString.call(Error());

“[object Error]“

Finding an object’s class

To find whether an object was constructed by a certain constructor or one inheriting from it, you can use the instanceof command:

//We want this function to take the sum of the numbers passed to it
//It can be called as sum(1, 2, 3) or sum([1, 2, 3]) and should give 6
function sum(...arguments) {
    if (arguments.length === 1) {
        const [firstArg] = arguments
        if (firstArg instanceof Array) { //firstArg is something like [1, 2, 3]
            return sum(...firstArg) //calls sum(1, 2, 3)
        }
    }
    return arguments.reduce((a, b) => a + b)
}

console.log(sum(1, 2, 3))   //6
console.log(sum([1, 2, 3])) //6
console.log(sum(4))         //4

Note that primitive values are not considered instances of any class:

console.log(2 instanceof Number)        //false
console.log('abc' instanceof String)    //false
console.log(true instanceof Boolean)    //false
console.log(Symbol() instanceof Symbol) //false

Every value in JavaScript besides null and undefined also has a constructor property storing the function that was used to construct it. This even works with primitives.

//Whereas instanceof also catches instances of subclasses,
//using obj.constructor does not
console.log([] instanceof Object, [] instanceof Array)           //true true
console.log([].constructor === Object, [].constructor === Array) //false true

function isNumber(value) {
    //null.constructor and undefined.constructor throw an error when accessed
    if (value === null || value === undefined) return false
    return value.constructor === Number
}
console.log(isNumber(null), isNumber(undefined))                  //false false
console.log(isNumber('abc'), isNumber([]), isNumber(() => 1))     //false false false
console.log(isNumber(0), isNumber(Number('10.1')), isNumber(NaN)) //true true true