What is the !! (not not) operator in JavaScript?
It converts Object
to boolean
. If it was falsey (e.g., 0
, null
, undefined
, etc.), it would be false
, otherwise, true
.
!object // Inverted Boolean
!!object // Noninverted Boolean, so true Boolean representation
So !!
is not an operator; it's just the !
operator twice.
It may be simpler to do:
Boolean(object) // Boolean
Real World Example "Test IE version":
const isIE8 = !! navigator.userAgent.match(/MSIE 8.0/);
console.log(isIE8); // Returns true or false
If you ⇒
console.log(navigator.userAgent.match(/MSIE 8.0/));
// Returns either an Array or null
But if you ⇒
console.log(!!navigator.userAgent.match(/MSIE 8.0/));
// Returns either true or false
It's a horribly obscure way to do a type conversion.
!
means NOT. So !true
is false
, and !false
is true
. !0
is true
, and !1
is false
.
So you're converting a value to a Boolean, inverting it, and then inverting it again.
// Maximum Obscurity:
val.enabled = !!userId;
// Partial Obscurity:
val.enabled = (userId != 0) ? true : false;
// And finally, much easier to understand:
val.enabled = (userId != 0);
// Or just
val.enabled = Boolean(userId);
Note: the latter two expressions aren't exactly equivalent to the first expression when it comes to some edge case (when userId
is []
, for example), due to the way the !=
operator works and what values are considered truthy.