What are the differences between JavaScript's == and === comparison operators?
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In JavaScript, the== and=== are comparison operators used to compare values. The main differences between these operators are as follows:
1. Type coercion:
- The== operator performs type coercion, which means it tries to convert the operands to a common type before comparison.
- The=== operator, also known as the strict equality operator, does not perform type coercion and requires both the value and the type to be the same for equality.
2. Equality comparison:
- The== operator checks for equality by comparing the values after type coercion.
- The=== operator checks for equality without performing any type coercion. It compares both the values and types of the operands.
3. Null and undefined:
- In most cases,null andundefined are considered equal by the== operator due to type coercion. For example,null == undefined returnstrue.
- The=== operator treatsnull andundefined as distinct values, andnull === undefined returnsfalse.
4. NaN:
- NaN (Not-a-Number) is a special numeric value in JavaScript that represents an invalid number.
- The== operator treats NaN as not equal to anything, including NaN itself. For example,NaN == NaN returnsfalse.
- The=== operator also treats NaN as not equal to anything, including NaN itself. Hence,NaN === NaN returnsfalse.
5. Object comparison:
- When comparing objects, both== and=== operators check if the operands refer to the same object in memory (i.e., they have the same reference).
- If you compare two different object instances with the same properties and values, the== and=== operators will returnfalse as they refer to different objects.
To summarize, the== operator performs type coercion and compares the values after conversion, while the=== operator performs strict equality checks by comparing both the values and types without any type coercion. It's generally recommended to use the=== operator for equality comparisons in order to avoid unexpected behavior due to type coercion.