Revision 1067640 of null

<div>{{jsSidebar("Objects")}}</div>

<p>The value <code>null</code>&nbsp;represents the intentional absence of any object value. It is one of JavaScript's {{Glossary("Primitive", "primitive values")}}.</p>

<h2 id="Syntax">Syntax</h2>

<pre class="syntaxbox">
<code>null </code></pre>

<h2 id="Description">Description</h2>

<p>The value&nbsp;<code>null</code> is written with a literal, <code>null</code>&nbsp;(it's not an identifer for&nbsp;a property of the global object like {{jsxref("Global_Objects/undefined","undefined")}} can be). In APIs, <code>null</code> is often retrieved in place where an object can be expected but no object is relevant. When checking for null or undefined beware of the <a href="/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Comparison_Operators">differences between equality (==) and identity (===) operators</a> (type-conversion is performed with the former).</p>

<pre class="brush: js">
// foo does not exist. It is not defined and has never been initialized:
&gt; foo
"ReferenceError: foo is not defined"

// foo is known to exist now but it has no type or value:
&gt; var foo = null; foo
"null"
</pre>

<h3 id="Difference_between_null_and_undefined">Difference between <code>null</code> and <code>undefined</code></h3>

<pre class="brush: js">
typeof null        // object (bug in ECMAScript, should be null)
typeof undefined   // undefined
null === undefined // false
null  == undefined // true
</pre>

<h2 id="Specifications">Specifications</h2>

<table class="standard-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th scope="col">Specification</th>
   <th scope="col">Status</th>
   <th scope="col">Comment</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('ES1')}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('ES1')}}</td>
   <td>Initial definition.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('ES5.1', '#sec-4.3.11', 'null value')}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('ES5.1')}}</td>
   <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('ES6', '#sec-null-value', 'null value')}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('ES6')}}</td>
   <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>{{SpecName('ESDraft', '#sec-null-value', 'null value')}}</td>
   <td>{{Spec2('ESDraft')}}</td>
   <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

<h2 id="Browser_compatibility">Browser compatibility</h2>

<p>{{CompatibilityTable}}</p>

<div id="compat-desktop">
<table class="compat-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th>Feature</th>
   <th>Chrome</th>
   <th>Firefox (Gecko)</th>
   <th>Internet Explorer</th>
   <th>Opera</th>
   <th>Safari</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Basic support</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
</div>

<div id="compat-mobile">
<table class="compat-table">
 <tbody>
  <tr>
   <th>Feature</th>
   <th>Android</th>
   <th>Chrome for Android</th>
   <th>Firefox Mobile (Gecko)</th>
   <th>IE Mobile</th>
   <th>Opera Mobile</th>
   <th>Safari Mobile</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td>Basic support</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
   <td>{{CompatVersionUnknown}}</td>
  </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>
</div>

<h2 id="See_also">See also</h2>

<ul>
 <li>{{jsxref("undefined")}}</li>
 <li>{{jsxref("NaN")}}</li>
</ul>