Get full access
Quiz

What are the various data types in JavaScript?

Topics
JavaScript
Edit on GitHub

TL;DR

In JavaScript, data types can be categorized into primitive and non-primitive types:

Primitive data types

  • Number: Represents both integers and floating-point numbers.
  • String: Represents sequences of characters.
  • Boolean: Represents true or false values.
  • Undefined: A variable that has been declared but not assigned a value.
  • Null: Represents the intentional absence of any object value.
  • Symbol: A unique and immutable value used as object property keys. Read more in our deep dive on Symbols
  • BigInt: Represents integers with arbitrary precision.

Non-primitive (Reference) data types

  • Object: Used to store collections of data.
  • Array: An ordered collection of data.
  • Function: A callable object.
  • Date: Represents dates and times.
  • RegExp: Represents regular expressions.
  • Map: A collection of keyed data items.
  • Set: A collection of unique values.

The primitive types store a single value, while non-primitive types can store collections of data or complex entities.

Data types in JavaScript

JavaScript, like many programming languages, has a variety of data types to represent different kinds of data. The main data types in JavaScript can be divided into two categories: primitive and non-primitive (reference) types.

Primitive data types

  1. Number: Represents both integer and floating-point numbers. JavaScript only has one type of number.
let age = 25;
let price = 99.99;
console.log(price); // 99.99
  1. String: Represents sequences of characters. Strings can be enclosed in single quotes, double quotes, or backticks (for template literals).
let myName = 'John Doe';
let greeting = 'Hello, world!';
let message = `Welcome, ${myName}!`;
console.log(message); // "Welcome, John Doe!"
  1. Boolean: Represents logical entities and can have two values: true or false.
let isActive = true;
let isOver18 = false;
console.log(isOver18); // false
  1. Undefined: A variable that has been declared but not assigned a value is of type undefined.
let user;
console.log(user); // undefined
  1. Null: Represents the intentional absence of any object value. It is a primitive value and is treated as a falsy value.
let user = null;
console.log(user); // null
if (!user) {
  console.log('user is a falsy value');
}
  1. Symbol: A unique and immutable primitive value, typically used as the key of an object property.
let sym1 = Symbol();
let sym2 = Symbol('description');
console.log(sym1); // Symbol()
console.log(sym2); // Symbol(description)
  1. BigInt: Used for representing integers with arbitrary precision, useful for working with very large numbers.
let bigNumber = BigInt(9007199254740991);
let anotherBigNumber = 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n;
console.log(bigNumber); // 9007199254740991n
console.log(anotherBigNumber); // 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n

Non-primitive (reference) data types

  1. Object: It is used to store collections of data and more complex entities. Objects are created using curly braces {}.
let person = {
  name: 'Alice',
  age: 30,
};
console.log(person); // {name: "Alice", age: 30}
  1. Array: A special type of object used for storing ordered collections of data. Arrays are created using square brackets [].
let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
console.log(numbers);
  1. Function: Functions in JavaScript are objects. They can be defined using function declarations or expressions.
function greet() {
  console.log('Hello!');
}


let add = function (a, b) {
  return a + b;
};


greet(); // "Hello!"
console.log(add(2, 3)); // 5
  1. Date: Represents dates and times. The Date object is used to work with dates.
let today = new Date().toLocaleTimeString();
console.log(today);
  1. RegExp: Represents regular expressions, which are patterns used to match character combinations in strings.
let pattern = /abc/;
let str = '123abc456';


console.log(pattern.test(str)); // true
  1. Map: A collection of keyed data items, similar to an object but allows keys of any type.
let map = new Map();
map.set('key1', 'value1');
console.log(map);
  1. Set: A collection of unique values.
let set = new Set();
set.add(1);
set.add(2);
console.log(set); // { 1, 2 }

Determining data types

JavaScript is a dynamically-typed language, which means variables can hold values of different data types over time. The typeof operator can be used to determine the data type of a value or variable.

console.log(typeof 42); // "number"
console.log(typeof 'hello'); // "string"
console.log(typeof true); // "boolean"
console.log(typeof undefined); // "undefined"
console.log(typeof null); // "object" (this is a historical bug in JavaScript)
console.log(typeof Symbol()); // "symbol"
console.log(typeof BigInt(123)); // "bigint"
console.log(typeof {}); // "object"
console.log(typeof []); // "object"
console.log(typeof function () {}); // "function"

Pitfalls

Type coercion

JavaScript often performs type coercion, converting values from one type to another, which can lead to unexpected results.

let result = '5' + 2;
console.log(result, typeof result); // "52 string" (string concatenation)


let difference = '5' - 2;
console.log(difference, typeof difference); // 3 "number" (numeric subtraction)

In the first example, since strings can be concatenated with the + operator, the number is converted into a string and the two strings are concatenated together. In the second example, strings cannot work with the minus operator (-), but two numbers can be minused, so the string is first converted into a number and the result is the difference.

Further reading

Edit on GitHub