29/07/2022, 07:56 JavaScript Boolean Type
JavaScript boolean type
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Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn about the JavaScript boolean type that has two literal values
true and false .
Introduction to the JavaScript boolean type
The JavaScript boolean primitive type has two literal values: true and false .
The following example declares two variables (https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-variables/) and
initializes their values to true and false :
let completed = true;
let running = false;
The boolean’s literal values are case-sensitive. This means that the True and False are valid
identifiers but they’re not boolean values.
JavaScript allows the values of other types to be cast to boolean values. To cast a non-Boolean value
to a boolean value, you use the built-in Boolean() (https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-
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boolean-type/) function. For example:
let error = 'An error occurred';
let hasError = Boolean(error);
console.log(hasError);
Output:
true
How it works.
First, declare a variable error that holds a literal string 'An error occurred' .
Second, cast the error variable to a boolean value using the Boolean() function.
Third, output the value of the hasError variable to the console.
Because the error variable holds a non-empty string, the Boolean() function casts its value to
true .
The following table shows how the Boolean() function casts the values of other types to boolean
values:
Data Type Values converted to true Value Converted to false
string Any non-empty string “” (empty string)
number Any Non-zero number 0, NaN
object Any object null
undefined (not relevant) undefined
This table is important because some statements automatically cast a non-boolean value to a boolean
value using the Boolean() function.
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For example, the if (https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-if/) statement executes a block if
a condition is true . If you use a non-boolean value, it’ll use the Boolean() function to implicitly
cast that value to a boolean value.
Note that you’ll learn about the if statement in the if tutorial
(https://www.javascripttutorial.net/javascript-if/) .
See the following example:
let error = 'An error occurred';
if (error) {
console.log(error);
Output:
An error occurred
In this example, since the error variable holds a non-empty string, the if statement evaluates its
value to true . Therefore, it executes the console.log(error) to output the error to the
console.
If you change the value of the error variable to an empty string ( "" ), you won’t see anything in
the output because the if statement evaluates it as false :
let error = '';
if (error) {
console.log(error);
Summary
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JavaScript boolean type has two literal values true and false .
Use the Boolean() function to cast a non-boolean values to a boolean value.
Some statements implicitly cast a non-boolean value into a boolean value.
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