JavaScript Data Types

Data types represent the different kinds of values we can use in JavaScript.

There are altogether 8 basic data types in JavaScript.

JavaScript String

A string represents textual data. It contains a sequence of characters. For example, "hello", "JavaScript", etc.

In JavaScript, strings are surrounded by quotes:

• Single quotes: 'Hello'
• Double quotes: "Hello"
• Backticks: `Hello`

For example,

// string enclosed within single quotes
let fruit = 'apple';
console.log(fruit)

// string enclosed within double quotes
let country = "USA";
console.log(country);

// string enclosed within backticks
let result = `fail`;
console.log(result);

Output

apple
USA
fail

In a string, we can either use single quotes or double quotes. However, it is recommended to use double quotes.

Note: It is illegal to mismatch quotes in strings. For example, the strings 'hello" and "world' are enclosed inside one single quote and one double quote, which results in an error.

To learn more about strings, visit JavaScript String.

JavaScript Number

In JavaScript, the number type represents numeric values (both integers and floating-point numbers).

• Integers - Numeric values without any decimal parts. Example: 3, -74, etc.
• Floating-Point - Numeric values with decimal parts. Example: 3.15, -1.3, etc.

// integer value
let integer_number = -3;
console.log(integer_number);

// floating-point value
let float_number = 3.15;
console.log(float_number);

Output

-3
3.15

To learn more about numbers, visit JavaScript Number.

let number1 = 3 / 0;
console.log(number1);  // Infinity

let number2 = -3 / 0;
console.log(number2);  // -Infinity

// strings can't be divided by numbers
let number3 = "abc" / 3; 
console.log(number3);  // NaN

JavaScript BigInt

BigInt is a type of number that can represent very large or very small integers beyond the range of the regular number data type.

Note: The regular number data type can handle values less than (2^53 - 1) and greater than -(2^53 - 1).

A BigInt number is created by appending n to the end of an integer. For example,

// BigInt value
let value1 = 900719925124740998n;

// add two big integers
let result1 = value1 + 1n;
console.log(result1);  // "900719925124740999n"

let value2 = 900719925124740998n;

Output

900719925124740999n
TypeError: Cannot mix BigInt and other types, use explicit conversions

Note: BigInt was introduced in a newer version of JavaScript (ES11) and is not supported by many browsers, including Safari. To learn more, visit JavaScript BigInt support.

// BigInt value
let value = 900719925124740998n;;

// Error! BitInt and number cannot be added
let sum = value + 1; 
console.log(sum);

TypeError: Cannot mix BigInt and other types, use explicit conversions

JavaScript Boolean

A Boolean data can only have one of two values: true or false. For example,

let dataChecked = true;
console.log(dataChecked);  // true

let valueCounted = false;
console.log(valueCounted);  // false

If you want to learn more about booleans, visit JavaScript Booleans.

JavaScript undefined

In JavaScript, undefined represents the absence of a value.

If a variable is declared but the value is not assigned, then the value of that variable will be undefined. For example,

let name;
console.log(name);  // undefined

It is also possible to explicitly assign undefined as a variable value. For example,

let name = undefined;
console.log(name);  // undefined

Note: You should avoid explicitly assigning undefined to a variable. Usually, we assign null to variables to indicate "unknown" or "empty" values.

JavaScript null

In JavaScript, null represents "no value" or "nothing." For example,

let number = null;
console.log(number);  // null

Here, let number = null; indicates that the number variable is set to have no value.

Visit JavaScript null and undefined to learn more.

JavaScript Symbol

A Symbol is a unique and primitive value. This data type was introduced in ES6.

When you create a Symbol, JavaScript guarantees that it is distinct from all other symbols, even if they have the same descriptions. For example,

// two symbols with the same description
let value1 = Symbol("programiz");
let value2 = Symbol("programiz");

console.log(value1 === value2);  // false

Here, we have used === to compare value1 and value2. It returns true if the two values are exactly the same. Otherwise, it returns false.

Though both value1 and value2 contain "programiz", JavaScript treats them as different since they are of the Symbol type. Hence, value1 === value2 returns false.

To learn more, visit JavaScript Symbol.

JavaScript Object

An Object holds data in the form of key-value pairs. For example,

let student = {
    firstName: "John",
    lastName: null,
    class: 10
};

Here, we have created an object named student that contains key-value pairs:

To learn more, visit JavaScript Objects.

let name = "ram";
console.log(typeof(name));  // string

let number = 4;
console.log(typeof(number));  // number

let valueChecked = true;
console.log(typeof(valueChecked));  // boolean

let a = null;
console.log(typeof(a));  // object

// data is of undefined type
let data;
console.log(typeof(data));  // undefined

// data is of number type
data = 5;
console.log(typeof(data));  // number

// data is of string type
data = "JavaScript Programming";
console.log(typeof(data));  // string