PRDV401: Introduction to JavaScript I

A unary operation is an operation with only one operand.

delete

The delete operator deletes an object's property. The syntax is:

delete object.property;
delete object[propertyKey];
delete objectName[index];

where object is the name of an object, property is an existing property, and propertyKey is a string or symbol referring to an existing property.

If the delete operator succeeds, it removes the property from the object. Trying to access it afterwards will yield undefined. The delete operator returns true if the operation is possible; it returns false if the operation is not possible.

delete Math.PI; // returns false (cannot delete non-configurable properties)

const myObj = {h: 4};
delete myobj.h; // returns true (can delete user-defined properties)

Deleting array elements

Since arrays are just objects, it's technically possible to delete elements from them. This is however regarded as a bad practice, try to avoid it. When you delete an array property, the array length is not affected and other elements are not re-indexed. To achieve that behavior, it is much better to just overwrite the element with the value undefined. To actually manipulate the array, use the various array methods such as splice.

typeof

The typeof operator is used in either of the following ways:

typeof operand
typeof (operand)

The typeof operator returns a string indicating the type of the unevaluated operand. operand is the string, variable, keyword, or object for which the type is to be returned. The parentheses are optional.

Suppose you define the following variables:

var myFun = new Function('5 + 2');
var shape = 'round';
var size = 1;
var foo = ['Apple', 'Mango', 'Orange'];
var today = new Date();

The typeof operator returns the following results for these variables:

typeof myFun;       // returns "function"
typeof shape;       // returns "string"
typeof size;        // returns "number"
typeof foo;         // returns "object"
typeof today;       // returns "object"
typeof doesntExist; // returns "undefined"

For the keywords true and null, the typeof operator returns the following results:

typeof true; // returns "boolean"
typeof null; // returns "object"

For a number or string, the typeof operator returns the following results:

typeof 62;            // returns "number"
typeof 'Hello world'; // returns "string"

For property values, the typeof operator returns the type of value the property contains:

typeof document.lastModified; // returns "string"
typeof window.length;         // returns "number"
typeof Math.LN2;              // returns "number"

For methods and functions, the typeof operator returns results as follows:

typeof blur;        // returns "function"
typeof eval;        // returns "function"
typeof parseInt;    // returns "function"
typeof shape.split; // returns "function"

For predefined objects, the typeof operator returns results as follows:

typeof Date;     // returns "function"
typeof Function; // returns "function"
typeof Math;     // returns "object"
typeof Option;   // returns "function"
typeof String;   // returns "function"

void

The void operator is used in either of the following ways:

void (expression)
void expression

The void operator specifies an expression to be evaluated without returning a value. expression is a JavaScript expression to evaluate. The parentheses surrounding the expression are optional, but it is good style to use them.