Today I Learned #4: Null type does not inherit from Object
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02 Dec 2020This is drawn from the challenge You’re not my type. Which requires returning members of an array that are the type defined in the argument. The solution has to work for both objects and primitive types.
According to MDN documentation JavaScript data types and data structures Null is the only type that doesn’t inherit from Object. So that means you have to take that into account as an edge case.
Six Data Types that are primitives, checked by typeof operator:
undefined : typeof instance === "undefined"
Boolean : typeof instance === "boolean"
Number : typeof instance === "number"
String : typeof instance === "string"
BigInt : typeof instance === "bigint"
Symbol : typeof instance === "symbol"
Structural Types:
Object : typeof instance === "object".
Special non-data but Structural type for any constructed object instance also used as data structures: new Object, new Array, new Map, new Set, new WeakMap, new WeakSet, new Date and almost everything made with new keyword;
Function : a non-data structure, though it also answers for typeof operator: typeof instance === "function". This is merely a special shorthand for Functions, though every Function constructor is derived from Object constructor.
Structural Root Primitive:
null : typeof instance === "object". Special primitive type having additional usage for its value: if object is not inherited, then null is shown;44
Challenge solution
Array.prototype.ofType = function (type) {
//code me
return this.filter((x) => {
return (
x instanceof type || (x != null && typeof x === type.name.toLowerCase()) //x.constructor == type works just as well
);
});
};