Equality Operators == and === in JavaScript#

In JavaScript, there are two equality operators: == for loose equality and === for strict equality. It is recommended to use === whenever the data type of the variables can be determined. Various types of value comparisons can be referred to using the truth table for JavaScript.

The == Loose Equality Operator#

The == operator performs implicit type conversion when comparing equality. It follows some principles:

• If one operand is a boolean value, it is first converted to a number before the comparison, essentially using the Number() method.
• If one operand is a string and the other is a number, the string is first converted to a number using the Number() method before the comparison.
• If one operand is an object and the other is not, the object is converted to a primitive value using the valueOf() and toString() methods to compare. Except for Date objects, the valueOf() method is preferred, and the obtained primitive type is compared according to the previous rules.
• In addition, null == undefined evaluates to true; any other combinations do not result in equality.

1 == true //true // Number Boolean
2 == true //false
1 == "1"  //true // Number String
[] == ""  //true // Object String
[] == false // true // Object Boolean
[] == 0   //true // Object Number
[] == {}  //false
[] == []  //false
{} == {}  //false
null == undefined //true

There may be some unexpected behavior when using it.

0 == "0"  //true
0 == []   //true
"0" == [] // false

If the valueOf() and toString() methods are directly implemented, instead of the ones on the prototype chain (Object.prototype.valueOf() and Object.prototype.toString()), it may even result in an exception.

var obj = {valueOf: function(){ return {} }, toString: function(){ return {}}}
console.log(obj == 0) // Uncaught TypeError: Cannot convert object to primitive value

The === Strict Equality Operator#

The === operator first checks the type and then compares. If the types are different, they are not considered equal.
The data types in ES6 are Number, String, Boolean, Object, Symbol, null, and undefined.

1 === true //false
1 === "1"  //false
[] === ""  //false
null === undefined //false

The if Statement#

The if() statement can also be seen as a separate category of operators.

if(true) console.log("exec"); //exec
if(false) console.log("exec");
if(1) console.log("exec"); //exec
if(0) console.log("exec"); 
if(-1) console.log("exec"); //exec
if("true") console.log("exec"); //exec
if("1") console.log("exec"); //exec
if("0") console.log("exec"); //exec
if("") console.log("exec");
if(null) console.log("exec");
if(undefined) console.log("exec");
if("null") console.log("exec"); //exec
if("undefined") console.log("exec"); //exec
if([]) console.log("exec"); //exec
if({}) console.log("exec"); //exec
if([0]) console.log("exec"); //exec
if(NaN) console.log("exec");

Daily Question#

References#