var c = false;
if(c=[] && c.length==0)alert('hi');
hi is not alerted because c is still false when it executes the second operand of &&, can someone explain how the boolean operands in if condition are executed and in what order?
I believe this is just a precedence issue - && is binding tighter than =. Your code is equivalent to:
if (c = ([] && c.length == 0))
{
alert('hi');
}
So it's assigning c the value false rather than the empty array.
Try this instead:
if ((c = []) && c.length == 0)
{
alert('hi');
}
EDIT: To address Tryptich's comment - I did try this before posting :) As CMS said, an empty array is considered true. Try this:
if (c = [])
{
alert('empty array is true');
}
or even just this:
if ([])
{
alert('empty array is true');
}
I checked the spec before posting - I was somewhat surprised that an empty array is considered true, but it is...
Related
I want to write an if/else statement that tests if the value of a text input does NOT equal either one of two different values. Like this (excuse my pseudo-English code):
var test = $("#test").val();
if (test does not equal A or B){
do stuff;
}
else {
do other stuff;
}
How do I write the condition for the if statement on line 2?
Think of ! (negation operator) as "not", || (boolean-or operator) as "or" and && (boolean-and operator) as "and". See Operators and Operator Precedence.
Thus:
if(!(a || b)) {
// means neither a nor b
}
However, using De Morgan's Law, it could be written as:
if(!a && !b) {
// is not a and is not b
}
a and b above can be any expression (such as test == 'B' or whatever it needs to be).
Once again, if test == 'A' and test == 'B', are the expressions, note the expansion of the 1st form:
// if(!(a || b))
if(!((test == 'A') || (test == 'B')))
// or more simply, removing the inner parenthesis as
// || and && have a lower precedence than comparison and negation operators
if(!(test == 'A' || test == 'B'))
// and using DeMorgan's, we can turn this into
// this is the same as substituting into if(!a && !b)
if(!(test == 'A') && !(test == 'B'))
// and this can be simplified as !(x == y) is the same as (x != y)
if(test != 'A' && test != 'B')
ECMA2016 answer, especially good when checking against multiple values:
if (!["A","B", ...].includes(test)) {}
In general it would be something like this:
if(test != "A" && test != "B")
You should probably read up on JavaScript logical operators.
I do that using jQuery
if ( 0 > $.inArray( test, [a,b] ) ) { ... }
For a larger number of values that is checked against often, it may be more efficient to check if the value does not exist in a Set.
const values = new Set(["a", "b"]);
if(!values.has(someValue)){
// do something
} else {
// do something else
}
var test = $("#test").val();
if (test != 'A' && test != 'B'){
do stuff;
}
else {
do other stuff;
}
You used the word "or" in your pseudo code, but based on your first sentence, I think you mean and. There was some confusion about this because that is not how people usually speak.
You want:
var test = $("#test").val();
if (test !== 'A' && test !== 'B'){
do stuff;
}
else {
do other stuff;
}
This can be done with a switch statement as well. The order of the conditional is reversed but this really doesn't make a difference (and it's slightly simpler anyways).
switch(test) {
case A:
case B:
do other stuff;
break;
default:
do stuff;
}
Does javascript skip statements if the outcome is already known? I'm asking this because for some reason my code doesn't console.log(b) when the outcome is alert('You Lose'). It does console.log when the outcome is alert('You Win').
C always equals true.
So when a = false it does not console.log(b), but when a = true it does console.log(b)
Why?
function example(c) {
var b = true;
var a = validateFunction($('.div1')); // returns true or false
console.log(a);
if (c === true) { // c always equals true
b = validateFunction($('.div2')); // returns true or false
console.log(b);
}
if (a === true && b === true) {
alert('You Win');
}
else {
alert('You Lose');
}
}
It would seem to me that c is not === true. To verify, add an else clause to if (c === true) that contains something to the effect of console.log('C is not === true.');
Yes, most languages parse if statements from left to right and stop as soon as they have a sure result.
Since your first expression in the if statement returns false, the whole statement can't return true, so it does not even try parsing it.
Same happens in an OR statement, if the first expression is false.
Below is a simple snippet:
pass="Hello";
count=pass.match(/[A-Z]/g);
count=(count && count.length || 0);
alert(count); //1
I just didn't get how the third line works, count=(count && count.length || 0);. What is the logic behind? Thanks!
It's short for:
if (count) {
count = count.length;
} else {
count = 0;
}
It is basically equivalent to
count = (count)? count.length : 0;
or more explicitly
if (count)
count = count.length;
else
count = 0;
If you want it written in English, it means
If count is truthy, get count.length and then if count.length is falsy, get 0. If count was falsy, get 0. Set count equal to what we got.
You can think of being truthy like this (and falsy being the inverse)
function isTruthy(x) {
if (x) return true;
return false;
}
So basically, a=(a && b || c); is short for
if (a)
a=b
else
a=c
I agreed as I have tested with a in which a in {-1,0,null,1}. What made me confused at first was I thought logical operation would always return true/false or 1/0 value. But now I learnt something new. Thanks all!
false
0
null
undefined
empty string
I use them,but I am still unaware of the marginal difference each prospect in the above list have.
I mostly use 0,false.But I have come across many scripts that uses undefined ,empty string.
I want to know the exact differnce between them.
I know its a silly question,but would be great If i get a small conscise answer.
It's called "truthy and falsy values" if you want to know how to refer to it.
Here is a link to explain the answer to your question: http://www.sitepoint.com/javascript-truthy-falsy/
(Keep in mind when reading the link at the beginning that !!(value) forces the value to be either true or false)
The type is the difference.
false is a boolean, 0 is a number, null is an object, undefined is undefined, and '' is a string.
You pick the type based on what it is being used as. For example:
// There is nothing wrong with this block of code
var num_cats = 7;
if(num_cats){
// num_cats is truthy
}
// This block works but it could be made more clear
var has_cat = num_cats;
if(has_cat){
// This would work, but it doesn't make sense. As a developer I would
// expect that has_cat should be either true or false, not 7.
// One way to convert the number to a boolean would be:
has_cat = !!num_cats
}
The two most confusing falsey values are probably null and undefined.
null basically means that the variable exists, but it's value is unknown.
undefined means that the variable doesn't exist (although a variable can be explicity set to undefined like var x = undefined; and then the variable x exists but it is explicitly not being defined which means that you can treat it as though it doesn't exist.
The list you have are 5 of the 6 "falsy" values in javascript. If you add "NaN" to that, you would have all the falsy values in javascript. So the complete "falsy" list is
1)0
2)""
3)false
4)undefined
5)null and
6)NaN
When used in a "if" statement, these all behave the same way so
if(0)
if("")
if(false)
if(undefined)
if(null) and
if(NaN) would behave the same
You asked for a short concise answer but I think the best way is just showing how it works with some basic test. Apologies for the long answer
//Checking if all the "falsy" values evaluate the same way in a "if" statement
console.log("Checking if(0)");
if(0) {
console.log(" if(0) Will not be reached");
}
console.log('Checking if("")');
if("") {
console.log(' if("") Will not be reached');
}
console.log("Checking if(undefined)");
if(undefined) {
console.log("if(undefined) Will not be reached");
}
console.log("Checking if(null)");
if(null) {
console.log("if(null) Will not be reached");
}
console.log("Checking if(Nan)");
if(NaN) {
console.log("if(NaN) Will not be reached");
}
console.log("Checking if(false)");
if(false) {
console.log("if(false) Will not be reached");
}
//Checking if all the falsy values are equal(==) to each other in a if statement
if(0 == "") {
console.log('if(0 == "") is true');
}
if(0 == false) {
console.log("if(0 == false) is true");
}
if("" == false) {
console.log('if("" == false) is true');
}
if(0 == undefined) {
console.log("if(0 == undefined) Will not be reached");
}
if("" == null) {
console.log('if("" == null) Will not be reached');
}
if(undefined == null) {
console.log("if(undefined == null) is true");
}
if(NaN == "") {
console.log('if(NaN == "") Will not be reached');
}
//Checking for strictly equality between false and falsy values
if(undefined === false) {
console.log("Will not be reached");
}
if(null === false) {
console.log("Will not be reached");
}
if(undefined ===false) {
console.log("Will not be reached");
}
if(0 === false) {
console.log("Will not be reached");
}
if("" === false) {
console.log("Will not be reached");
}
if(NaN === false) {
console.log("Will not be reached");
}
What this means that though these "falsy" values might be used in a "if" statement interchangeably, they all are not equal(==) to each other(particular the set of 0,"" and false with the other three). If a stricter equals(====) is used, none of these would be equal to false, hence perhaps the classification "falsy" instead of false.
Only two of the values you've mentioned are what I would call designated "special values".
null - In most cases this is equivalent to not applicable.
undefined - The implicit version of null
An example for both:
function findByTitle(arr, title)
{
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; ++i) {
if (arr[i].title === title) {
return arr[i];
}
}
return null;
}
The return value of null indicates that the record could not be found, otherwise it's an object.
function increment(x, by)
{
return x + (by || 1); // by may be undefined
}
increment(4); // 5
In this case, the by argument is not passed, so JavaScript passes it as undefined implicitly. I wouldn't recommend assigning this to a variable though; rather, I would use null.
The other values you have mentioned are not particularly special; they can be used as a starting value, such as building a string value or calculating a sum, but they're not special in their own right.
"" is a string
false is a boolean
0 and NaN are numbers
The code below represents the idea I am trying to achieve but when I test it doesn't work, what would be the appropriate way to test if q1 and q2 is equal to true?
function processForm() {
if(q1_valid = true && q2_valid = true){
alert("yes");
} else {
alert("no");
}
}
When you use simple = in javascript (and most C-like languages), what happens is that you assign the variable, then return the result of said assignment.
For instance, take the code a = b = true. This can be split up into a = (b = true). Now, if we only look at the part inside the parenthesis, you'll see that what it does is first set b to true, then return b. Then, outside the parenthesis it sets a to whatever b was (which ofcause is true), and returns the value of a. The value of a has nowhere to go, so it's simply dropped.
Now, if we go back to your if-test, what you end up with is basically this:
Set q1_valid to true.
return true (the value of q1_valid) to the && operator.
true is valid for && so it looks at right hand side.
Set q2_valid to true.
return true to the &&.
&& now has true on both sides. Returns true.
Test always passes. q1_valid and q2_valid will always be true after test is run.
The simple solution is to replace = with either == (equals) or === (type and value equals). Your if-check should look like one of the following:
1.
if(q1_valid == true && q2_valid == true)
2.
if(q1_valid === true && q2_valid === true)
Also, since working with booleans (values that are either true or false), the check for equality to true can be omitted altogheter. Another way to do this is simply like this:
if(q1_valid && q2_valid)
Two issues here:
You need to use two equals signs for comparison ==
The variables don't exist in the function, you would need to pass them as parameters when calling the function
function processForm(q1_valid, q2_valid) {
if(q1_valid == true && q2_valid == true){
alert("yes");
} else {
alert("no");
}
}