if statement updates variable

Question

var text = 'abc';
if(text = '' || text != '')
    console.log(text);
else
    console.log('in else');

It is just a useless code snippet, but it gives the strange result which I was not expecting at all. So my curiosity brought me here.

It prints true only.

Why does it updates the text value to true rather than setting it as empty?

Answer 1

The expression

text = '' || text != ''

is parsed as

text = ('' || text != '')

The value of

('' || text != '')

is the boolean value true because text != '' is true.