NaN in JavaScript stands for Not a Number. It is the result of numerical operations, where result is not a number. It is represented by a special property of the global object with the name NaN. NaN is also property of the number object and can refer it using the Number.NaN. The typeofNaN is primitive number. We can check whether a value isNaN by using the isNaN function or by Number.IsNan method.
The number data type represents all numbers in JavaScript. It also contains three special values i.e. Not A Number (NaN), positive infinity and negative infinity.
JavaScript does not throw error when we perform a invalid arithmetic operations like dividing by zero. Instead it returns a special value NaN.
NaN is represented by a Literal NaN, which is a property of the global object. NaN is also property of the number object and can refer it using the Number.NaN
console.log(NaN) //NaN
console.log(Number.NaN) //NaN
NaN is a specal value in the number data type. Hence type of NaN is number.
console.log(typeof(NaN)); //number
NaN can happen in several ways..
In this following case, we are trying to convert a string to a number. Since “test” cannot be converted to a number it results in a NaN.
let num = Number("test");
console.log(num);
***output***
NaN
Or using an invalid value in any function that expects a number. For Example Math.round or parseInt methods
Converting Undefined into a number
let v=undefined;
console.log(parseInt(v)); //NaN
let n = Number(undefined)
console.log(n)
Example
let num1 = 0/0;
console.log(num1)
console.log(typeof(num1))
**output**
NaN
number
Multiply an Infinity by Zero or divide Infinity by Infinity will result in NaN. Subtracting Infinity by Infinity also results in NaN.
console.log(Infinity*0)
console.log(Infinity/Infinity)
console.log(Infinity-Infinity);
All operations involving NaN results in a NaN.
console.log(Number.NaN+1)
console.log(Number.NaN*1)
console.log(Number.NaN/1)
console.log(Number.NaN-1)
Any comparison between the two NaN's always results in false. NaN is never equal to itself.
let n1=Number.NaN; //create a NaN
let n2=n1; //make it equal
console.log(n1 == n2) //false.
console.log(n1 != n2) //true
In the following example, n1 & n2 are NaN's. But they are neither equal or greater or lesser from each other.
let n1=Number.NaN;
let n2=Number.NaN;
console.log(n1 == n2) //false
console.log(n1 > n2) //false
console.log(n2 < n1) //false
There are two ways in which we can check if the value is NaN. One is using the isNaN function and the other is to use the Number.isNaN method.
We can check whether a value is NaN by using the global isNaN method.
console.log(isNaN(NaN)); //true
The following code works because isNaN tries to convert the “test” into a number, which results in a NaN value. Hence the output is true.
console.log(isNaN("Test")); //true
You can also use the Number.isNaN method, But it does not forcefully convert the parameter to a number. If the argument is not a number, then it results false.
console.log(Number.isNaN(NaN)); //true
console.log(Number.isNaN("Test")); //false
Booleans are implemented as numerical values with a single binary digit (i.e., 0 & 1). Hence they are treated as numbers.
isNaN(true); // false
isNaN(false); // false
When a proper number cannot be the result of numerical operations, then the result is NaN. For Example, converting a string to a number. NaN is a primitive number. The NaN can appear when you convert an Invalid value to a number, Divide Zero by Zero, Some operations involving infinity & all Operations involving NaN, etc. You can check if the value is NaN by using the method IsNaN or Number.IsNaN
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