Unraveling the “===” of javascript

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by mmvergara

The behavior of the strict equality operator (===) is defined in the ECMAScript specification under the section Strict Equality Comparison. Here’s a breakdown of how it works, step by step:

The Algorithm for ===

When you use ===, JavaScript follows this algorithm to determine if two values are equal:

1. Check if the types are the same:

• If the types of the two values are different, return false.
• If the types are the same, proceed to the next step.

1. Compare the values based on their type:

• Numbers:

  • If both values are NaN, return false (yes, NaN === NaN is false!).
  • If the numbers have the same numeric value, return true.
  • If one value is +0 and the other is -0, return true (they are considered equal).

• Strings:

  • If both strings have the same sequence of characters, return true.
  • Otherwise, return false.

• Booleans:

  • If both values are true or both are false, return true.
  • Otherwise, return false.

• Objects (including arrays and functions):

  • If both values reference the same object in memory, return true.
  • Otherwise, return false.

• null and undefined:

  • null === null is true.
  • undefined === undefined is true.
  • null === undefined is false (they are different types).

Why NaN === NaN is false

This is a common point of confusion. According to the spec, NaN (Not-a-Number) is defined as not equal to itself. This is because NaN represents an invalid or undefined numeric result, and it doesn’t make sense to compare two invalid results as equal.

For example:

NaN === NaN; // false

If you need to check if a value is NaN, use Number.isNaN() or Object.is():

Number.isNaN(NaN); // true
Object.is(NaN, NaN); // true

Why +0 === -0 is true

The spec treats +0 and -0 as equal because, in most cases, they behave the same way in mathematical operations. However, there are rare scenarios where they differ (e.g., 1 / +0 is Infinity, while 1 / -0 is -Infinity). If you need to distinguish between them, use Object.is():

Object.is(+0, -0); // false

Objects and Reference Equality

When comparing objects (including arrays and functions), === checks if they reference the same object in memory. This is why two objects with identical contents are not considered equal:

const obj1 = { name: "Alice" };
const obj2 = { name: "Alice" };
obj1 === obj2; // false (different objects)

But if two variables point to the same object, they are equal:

const obj3 = obj1;
obj1 === obj3; // true (same object)

More on Solidifying Javascript Foundations

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by mmvergara

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