How Does JavaScript's Nullish Coalescing Operator (??) Solve the Null and Undefined Handling Problem?

Making Nulls Null-er: Exploring the Null Coalescing Operator in JavaScript

One common pain point in JavaScript development is the lack of a concise "null coalescing" operator akin to the C# "??". As in the example provided, using the conditional operator for this purpose can feel clunky and inelegant.

Thankfully, JavaScript now offers a solution to this quandary: the nullish coalescing operator (??). This operator returns its right-hand-side operand if its left-hand-side operand is null or undefined, and otherwise returns its left-hand-side operand.

Prior to this feature's introduction, the JavaScript equivalent of the C# null coalescing operator was employing a logical OR (||). However, be aware that this approach may exhibit unexpected behavior in certain cases. The logical OR operator returns its right-hand-side operand if the left-hand-side operand coerces to false, which includes not only null and undefined but also false, 0, and empty strings.

So, while the logical OR operator can serve as a general tool for assigning default or alternative values, it's important to consider these nuances to avoid any unintended consequences.

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