if statement in javascript always true

Question

So, I have the code, its not done, but all i want it to do is display one alert box if I write the word \'help\', and say something else if anything else is entered.

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Answer 1

The problem is this line:

 if (reply === 'help' || 'Help')

Because in JavaScript, objects and non-empty strings evaluate to true when used as a boolean. There are a couple of exceptions to this when using ==

 if("0") // true
 if("0" == true) // false

In general, it's not a good idea to use == or raw variables in if statements.

As others have pointed out, use

if (reply === 'help' || reply === 'Help')

Or better:

if (typeof reply === 'string' && reply.toLowerCase() === 'help')

instead.