• JavaScript
  • JavaScript
  • Tutorials and guides
  • Beginner's tutorials
    1. JavaScript Guide
      1. Loops and iteration
      2. Representing dates & times
      3. Working with objects
      4. Iterators and generators
      5. Asynchronous JavaScript
      6. Equality comparisons and sameness
      7. Meta programming
      8. AggregateError
      9. AsyncGenerator
      10. BigInt
      11. DataView
      12. encodeURI()
      13. escape() Deprecated
      14. Float16Array
      15. Generator
      16. Int8Array
      17. InternalError Non-standard
      18. Iterator
      19. NaN
      20. parseInt()
      21. ReferenceError
      22. SharedArrayBuffer
      23. Temporal Experimental
      24. Uint8ClampedArray
      25. unescape() Deprecated
      26. WeakSet
  • Assignment (=)
  • Bitwise AND (&)
  • Bitwise OR assignment (|=)
  • Comma operator (,)
  • Destructuring
  • Exponentiation (**)
  • Greater than (>)
  • import.meta.resolve()
  • Inequality (!=)
  • Less than (<)
  • Logical NOT (!)
  • Multiplication assignment (*=)
  • Nullish coalescing assignment (??=)
  • Optional chaining (?.)
  • Right shift (>>)
  • Strict inequality (!==)
  • this
  • Unsigned right shift (>>>)
  • yield*
  • Block statement
  • continue
  • export
  • for...in
  • if...else
  • let
  • try...catch
  • with Deprecated
  • get
  • The arguments object
    1. callee Deprecated
    2. extends
    3. Static initialization blocks
  • Character class escape: \d, \D, \w, \W, \s, \S
  • Input boundary assertion: ^, $
  • Modifier: (?ims-ims:...)
  • Quantifier: *, +, ?, {n}, {n,}, {n,m}
  • Errors
    1. RangeError: argument is not a valid code point
    2. RangeError: invalid array length
    3. RangeError: repeat count must be less than infinity
    4. ReferenceError: assignment to undeclared variable "x"
    5. SyntaxError: 'arguments'/'eval' can't be defined or assigned to in strict mode code
    6. SyntaxError: \ at end of pattern
    7. SyntaxError: await is only valid in async functions, async generators and modules
    8. SyntaxError: continue must be inside loop
    9. SyntaxError: function statement requires a name
    10. SyntaxError: identifier starts immediately after numeric literal
    11. SyntaxError: invalid assignment left-hand side
    12. SyntaxError: invalid class set operation in regular expression
    13. SyntaxError: invalid property name in regular expression
    14. SyntaxError: invalid unicode escape in regular expression
    15. SyntaxError: missing ) after argument list
    16. SyntaxError: missing } after property list
    17. SyntaxError: missing variable name
    18. SyntaxError: numbers out of order in {} quantifier.
    19. SyntaxError: property name __proto__ appears more than once in object literal
    20. SyntaxError: rest parameter may not have a default
    21. SyntaxError: super() is only valid in derived class constructors
    22. SyntaxError: unlabeled break must be inside loop or switch
    23. TypeError: 'caller', 'callee', and 'arguments' properties may not be accessed
    24. TypeError: "x" is not a function
    25. TypeError: BigInt value can't be serialized in JSON
    26. TypeError: can't convert BigInt to number
    27. TypeError: can't redefine non-configurable property "x"
    28. TypeError: class constructors must be invoked with 'new'
    29. TypeError: Initializing an object twice is an error with private fields/methods
    30. TypeError: Iterator/AsyncIterator constructor can't be used directly
    31. TypeError: property "x" is non-configurable and can't be deleted
    32. TypeError: X.prototype.y called on incompatible type
    33. JavaScript technologies overview
    34. Strict mode
    35. Learn more
    36. See full compatibility
  • The null value represents the intentional absence of any object value. It is one of JavaScript's primitive values and is treated as falsy for boolean operations.

    Try it

    function getVowels(str) {
      const m = str.match(/[aeiou]/gi);
      if (m === null) {
        return 0;
      }
      return m.length;
    }
    
    console.log(getVowels("sky"));
    / Expected output: 0
    

    Syntax

    js
    null
    

    Description

    The value null is written with a literal: null. null is not an identifier for a property of the global object, like undefined can be. Instead, null expresses a lack of identification, indicating that a variable points to no object. In APIs, null is often retrieved in a place where an object can be expected but no object is relevant.

    js
    / foo does not exist. It is not defined and has never been initialized:
    foo; / ReferenceError: foo is not defined
    
    js
    / foo is known to exist now but it has no type or value:
    const foo = null;
    foo; / null
    

    Examples

    Difference between null and undefined

    When checking for null or undefined, beware of the differences between equality (==) and identity (===) operators, as the former performs type-conversion.

    js
    typeof null; / "object" (not "null" for legacy reasons)
    typeof undefined; / "undefined"
    null === undefined; / false
    null == undefined; / true
    null === null; / true
    null == null; / true
    !null; / true
    Number.isNaN(1 + null); / false
    Number.isNaN(1 + undefined); / true
    

    Specifications

    Specification
    ECMAScript® 2026 Language Specification
    # sec-null-value

    Browser compatibility

    See also