What should a JavaScript constructor return if it fails?

Question

If I have a javascript class which cannot be instantiated what should the constructor return that I can test for. The constructor always returns an object so I cannot return nul

Answer 1

My first approach:

1. Don't allow a constructor to fail; consider alternatives

My second approach:

1. If a constructor fails, it must only fail because of a programming error and thus;
2. should throw an exception and;
3. must not return 'a status code' (see Emmett's answer for why returning null doesn't work anyway)

I have never designed a constructor (something invoked as the target of new) to return anything except an object of the "expected" type.

Fail fast, avoid being too clever, and save time debugging hard-to-find bugs.

Happy coding.