Finding Variable Type in JavaScript

Question

Use typeof:

> typeof "foo"
"string"
> typeof true
"boolean"
> typeof 42
"number"

So you can do:

if(typeof bar === 'number') {
   //whatever
}

Be careful though if you define these primitives with their object wrappers (which you should never do, use literals where ever possible):

> typeof new Boolean(false)
"object"
> typeof new String("foo")
"object"
> typeof new Number(42)
"object"

The type of an array is still object. Here you really need the instanceof operator.

Update:

Another interesting way is to examine the output of Object.prototype.toString:

> Object.prototype.toString.call([1,2,3])
"[object Array]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call("foo bar")
"[object String]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call(45)
"[object Number]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call(false)
"[object Boolean]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call(new String("foo bar"))
"[object String]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call(null)
"[object Null]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call(/123/)
"[object RegExp]"
> Object.prototype.toString.call(undefined)
"[object Undefined]"

With that you would not have to distinguish between primitive values and objects.

typeof is only good for returning the "primitive" types such as number, boolean, object, string and symbols. You can also use instanceof to test if an object is of a specific type.

function MyObj(prop) {
  this.prop = prop;
}

var obj = new MyObj(10);

console.log(obj instanceof MyObj && obj instanceof Object); // outputs true

Using type:

// Numbers
typeof 37                === 'number';
typeof 3.14              === 'number';
typeof Math.LN2          === 'number';
typeof Infinity          === 'number';
typeof NaN               === 'number'; // Despite being "Not-A-Number"
typeof Number(1)         === 'number'; // but never use this form!

// Strings
typeof ""                === 'string';
typeof "bla"             === 'string';
typeof (typeof 1)        === 'string'; // typeof always return a string
typeof String("abc")     === 'string'; // but never use this form!

// Booleans
typeof true              === 'boolean';
typeof false             === 'boolean';
typeof Boolean(true)     === 'boolean'; // but never use this form!

// Undefined
typeof undefined         === 'undefined';
typeof blabla            === 'undefined'; // an undefined variable

// Objects
typeof {a:1}             === 'object';
typeof [1, 2, 4]         === 'object'; // use Array.isArray or Object.prototype.toString.call to differentiate regular objects from arrays
typeof new Date()        === 'object';
typeof new Boolean(true) === 'object'; // this is confusing. Don't use!
typeof new Number(1)     === 'object'; // this is confusing. Don't use!
typeof new String("abc") === 'object';  // this is confusing. Don't use!

// Functions
typeof function(){}      === 'function';
typeof Math.sin          === 'function';

In Javascript you can do that by using the typeof function

console.log(typeof bar);