Question:
Answer:
You are probably familiar with a special value in JavaScript called null. This is a value you can assign to a variable when you want to indicate that the variable has no particular value.
Well, kind-of. The fact is, null is a value, too — just like true, false, NaN, and Infinity.
Contrary to popular belief, unassigned variables (and object properties) do not begin with a default value of null. Instead, they begin with a special value called undefined.
Although it’s difficult to distinguish between undefined and null, the two values are, in fact, distinct, as demonstrated in the following scripts.
In Script 1, value equals undefined because window does not have a property named wiper. In Script 2, however, value is defined: It is defined as null. Script 3 demonstrates that when undefined is compared to null, the result is true. But null also equals null, as shown in Script 4.
So what does all this mean? Fortunately, not much: In most cases, there is little need to distinguish between null and undefined. However, if you have a habit of comparing variables to null just to see if they are defined, don’t forget that the results may be inconclusive. A true comparison means either that the variable is undefined or that the variable has been defined as null.
