parseInt vs unary plus, when to use which?

Question

What are the differences between this line:

var a = parseInt(\"1\", 10); // a === 1

and this line

var a = +\"1\"; // a ===          


        

Answer 1

The ultimate whatever-to-number conversion table:

EXPRS = [
    'parseInt(x)',
    'parseFloat(x)',
    'Number(x)',
    '+x',
    '~~x',
    'x>>>0',
    'isNaN(x)'

];

VALUES = [
    '"123"',
    '"+123"',
    '"-123"',
    '"123.45"',
    '"-123.45"',
    '"12e5"',
    '"12e-5"',
    
    '"0123"',
    '"0000123"',
    '"0b111"',
    '"0o10"',
    '"0xBABE"',
    
    '"4294967295"',
    '"123456789012345678"',
    '"12e999"',

    '""',
    '"123foo"',
    '"123.45foo"',
    '"  123   "',
    '"foo"',
    '"12e"',
    '"0b567"',
    '"0o999"',
    '"0xFUZZ"',

    '"+0"',
    '"-0"',
    '"Infinity"',
    '"+Infinity"',
    '"-Infinity"',

    'null',
    'undefined',
    'true',
    'false',
    'Infinity',
    'NaN',

    '{}',
    '{valueOf: function(){return 42}}',
    '{toString: function(){return "56"}}',

];

//////

function wrap(tag, s) {
    if (s && s.join)
        s = s.join('');
    return '<' + tag + '>' + String(s) + '';
}

function table(head, rows) {
    return wrap('table', [
        wrap('thead', tr(head)),
        wrap('tbody', rows.map(tr))
    ]);
}

function tr(row) {
    return wrap('tr', row.map(function (s) {
        return wrap('td', s)
    }));
}

function val(n) {
    return n === true || Number.isNaN(n) ? wrap('b', n) : String(n);
}

var rows = VALUES.map(function (v) {
    var x = eval('(' + v + ')');
    return [v].concat(EXPRS.map(function (e) {
        return val(eval(e))
    }));
});

document.body.innerHTML = table(["x"].concat(EXPRS), rows);

table { border-collapse: collapse }
tr:nth-child(odd) { background: #fafafa }
td { border: 1px solid #e0e0e0; padding: 5px; font: 12px monospace }
td:not(:first-child) { text-align: right }
thead td { background: #3663AE; color: white }
b { color: red }