(Built-in) way in JavaScript to check if a string is a valid number

Question

I\'m hoping there\'s something in the same conceptual space as the old VB6 IsNumeric() function?

Answer 1

2019: Practical and tight numerical validity check

Often, a 'valid number' means a Javascript number excluding NaN and Infinity, ie a 'finite number'.

To check the numerical validity of a value (from an external source for example), you can define in ESlint Airbnb style :

/**
 * Returns true if 'candidate' is a finite number or a string referring (not just 'including') a finite number
 * To keep in mind:
 *   Number(true) = 1
 *   Number('') = 0
 *   Number("   10  ") = 10
 *   !isNaN(true) = true
 *   parseFloat('10 a') = 10
 *
 * @param {?} candidate
 * @return {boolean}
 */
function isReferringFiniteNumber(candidate) {
  if (typeof (candidate) === 'number') return Number.isFinite(candidate);
  if (typeof (candidate) === 'string') {
    return (candidate.trim() !== '') && Number.isFinite(Number(candidate));
  }
  return false;
}

and use it this way:

if (isReferringFiniteNumber(theirValue)) {
  myCheckedValue = Number(theirValue);
} else {
  console.warn('The provided value doesn\'t refer to a finite number');
}