When you come across null and undefined you might be tempted to think that they are just synonym. In this tutorial you’ll discover that they are not. Let’s go.

Null

It represents an empty or non-existant value and it must be assigned.

const myVar = null // assign null to myVar

console.log(myVar) // shows null

In the example above, our variable (myVar) has been set to null and shows null in the console.

The typeof null is object (though this is an implementation error since the very beginning of JavaScript)

console.log(typeof myVar) // shows object

Undefined

It means that a variable exists (is declared) but has not yet assigned a value.

const myVar; // declaration of the var

console.log(myVar) // shows undefined

You can also explicitly assign undefined to a variable like this:

const myVar = undefined

console.log(myVar) // shows undefined

If you try to look up a non-existing properties in an object, JavaScript will send you undefined too:

const myObj = {
  name: "Sarah",
  age: 0,
}

console.log(myObj.gender) // shows undefined

Same if you don’t have an explicit return in a function

const myFun = () => {}

console.log(myFunr()) // shows undefined

Finally, the type of undefined is undefined.

const myVar; // declaration of the var

console.log(typeof myVar) // shows undefined

Conclusion

null is a value that represents no value whereas undefined is the default value for a variable that has not been assigned a specific value, or a function that has no explicit return value, or non-existing properties in an object.

Thank you for reading!