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Heru Hartanto
Heru Hartanto

Posted on

'1' - '1' / 2 = ? , Can you find the answer ?

#javascript

I just found out some 🙀 funny things about javascript, If someone able to explain I really appreciate


'A'+'A'
// output 'AA'

'1'+'1'
// output '11'

// Okay that make sense but ...

'1'+'1'*2
// output 12 


'1'+'1'/2
// output 10.5

// It's start getting weird then ....


'1'-'1' 
// output 0

'1'-'1'/2
// output 0.5

// It's correct , but why ?
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Top comments (2)

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sthuber90 profile image
Stephan •

Executing + on two string concatenates the strings. This explains "AA" and "11".

Now -, / and * are seen as math operations. Given that a multiplictation or division is done before addition and subtraction the other parts can be explained like this:

'1'+'1'*2
// '1' * 2 = 2 <- parses '1' string to number multiplies by two and returns number
// '1' + 2 = '12' <- one element is string therefore the parts get concatenated
// output 12 

'1'+'1'/2
// '1' / 2 = 0.5 <- parses '1' string to number divides by two and returns number
// '1' + 0.5 = '10.5' <- one element is string therefore the parts get concatenated
// output 10.5

// the - operator is not meant for strings. JS tries to parse the parts to numbers.
'1'-'1' 
// parsed to numbers 1-1 = 0
// output 0

'1'-'1'/2
// '1' / 2 = 1 / 2 = 0.5
// '1' - 0.5 = 1 - 0.5 = 0.5
// output 0.5
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You can see that the parts in a subtraction, multiplication, division get parsed to a number if you try the following:

true + true = 2
true - false = 0
false - false = 0
false + false = 0
false - true = -1

// and the interesting part
'a' + 'b' = 'ab'
'a' - 'b' = NaN
'a' * 'b' = NaN
'a' / 'b' = NaN
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miketalbot profile image
Mike Talbot ⭐ • • Edited

If there is a numerical operation then the string is converted into a number. The + is a string concatenation operator and a numerical operator, string wins in this case. So "1" concatenate the result of 1*2 = 2 becomes "12" as a string.

Note that + on its own is always a numerical operator which is why you might see this:

function add(a,b) {
   return +a + +b
}
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The +a is bound to convert a to be a number (if possible) etc.

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