Comparing NaN values for equality in Javascript

Question

I need to compare two numeric values for equality in Javascript. The values may be NaN as well. I've come up with this code:

if (val1 == val2 || isNaN(val1) && isNaN(val2)) ...

which is working fine, but it looks bloated to me. I would like to make it more concise. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Try using Object.is(), it determines whether two values are the same value. Two values are the same if one of the following holds:

• both undefined
• both null
• both true or both false
• both strings of the same length with the same characters in the same order
• both the same object
• both numbers and
  • both +0
  • both -0
  • both NaN
  • or both non-zero and both not NaN and both have the same value

e.g. Object.is(NaN, NaN) => true

Refer to https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/is

Answer 2

if(val1 == val2 || (isNaN(val1) && isNaN(val2)))

Nothing to improve. Just add the parentheses to make it clear to everyone.

Answer 3

Avoid isNaN. Its behaviour is misleading:

isNaN(undefined) // true

_.isNaN (from Underscore.js) is an elegant function which behaves as expected:

// Is the given value `NaN`?
// 
// `NaN` is the only value for which `===` is not reflexive.
_.isNaN = function(obj) {
  return obj !== obj;
};

_.isNaN(undefined) // false
_.isNaN(0/0) // true

Answer 4

if ( val1 === val2 )

If either one or both are NaN it will evaluate to false.

Also, NaN !== NaN

Answer 5

As long as you know these two variables are numeric, you can try:

if (val1 + '' == val2 + '')

It turns the two values into strings. A funny answer, but it should work. :)

Answer 6

NaN is never equal to itself no matter the comparison method, so the only more concise solution for your problem that I can think of would be to create a function call with a descriptive name for doing this rather special comparison and use that comparison function in your code instead.

That would also have the advantage of localizing changes to the algorithm the day you decide that undefined should be equal to undefined too.

Answer 7

For Numeric cases the solution is fine but to extend it to work for other data-types as well my suggestion would be as follows:

if(val1 === val2 || (val1 !== val1 && val2 !== val2))

Reason being global isNaN is erroneous. It will give you wrong results in scenarios like

isNaN(undefined); // true
isNaN({});        // true
isNaN("lorem ipsum"); // true 

I have posted a comprehensive answer here which covers the NaN comparison for equality as well.

How to test if a JavaScript variable is NaN

Answer 8

And what's about the function Number.isNaN() ? I believe this must be used whenever is possible.

> NaN === NaN
false
> Number.isNaN
ƒ isNaN() { [native code] }
> Number.isNaN() === Number.isNaN()
true

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/isNaN

Answer 9

I created this answer after reviewing the suggestions of ThiefMaster, Esailija, Joachim Isaksson and davidchambers. Can this be further improved?

// Determines if two numeric values are equal.
// Also returns true when both parameters are NaN.
function areEqualNumeric(val1, val2) {
    return val1 === val2 || (val1 !== val1 && val2 !== val2);
}

Answer 10

Why not an if statement like this?

if (isNaN(x) == true){
        alert("This is not a number.");
    }

Answer 11

Equality comparison with NaN always results in False.

We can go for the javascript function isNaN() for checking equality with NaN. Example:

1. isNaN(123) //false

2. var array = [3, NaN];

for(var i = 0 ; i< array.length; i++){
  if(isNaN(array[i])){
      console.log("True ---- Values of " + i);
    } else {
      console.log("false ---- Values of " + i);
    }
}

Results:

false ---- Values of 0

True ---- Values of 1

Answer 12

Found another way using Array.prototype.includes MDN link. Apparently, [NaN].includes(NaN) returns true for NaN.

function IsActuallyNaN(obj) {
  return [obj].includes(NaN);  
}

Or we can go with davidchambers' solution which is much simpler.

function IsActuallyNaN2(obj) {
  return obj !== obj;
}