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JavaScript JavaScript Foundations Variables Null and Undefined

Posted by removejackdonley
removejackdonley
2,829 Points

undefined = true;

Hello everybody,

During the video, Jim shows how to implement a line of code, undefined = true; , which causes the two messages in the console to say: true false. I copied everything correctly, but the messages in the console still read: true true, as if that line of code was commented out. Have any suggestions? Gabriel

3 Answers

Sean T. Unwin
Sean T. Unwin
28,690 Points
Sean T. Unwin
Sean T. Unwin
28,690 Points

Modern browsers, as per the EMCA 5 spec[1], undefined is read-only and not able to be editable. You would have to use an older browser version from probably a couple of years ago, or possibly even IE<9 for this to work as described in the video.

So that part of the video, while making a good point about not taking variable values for granted, is out of date for that particular snippet of code.

[1] Scroll to the 15.1.1 part of this section (about 15 parts down) - http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-E

removejackdonley
removejackdonley
2,829 Points

Thank you! That totally makes sense.

removejackdonley
removejackdonley
2,829 Points
removejackdonley
removejackdonley
2,829 Points

Here it is:

var myVar;

undefined = true;

console.log(typeof myVar === "undefined"); console.log(myVar === undefined);

var x = null;

if(myVar == null){ console.log("If"); } else { console.log("Else"); }