Passing a number to parseFloat() instead of string - javascript

In my code, the value of a particular var can originate from any one of a number of different json sources. For some of those sources, the json element concerned will be a string (e.g. "temp": "10.2"), while for other sources the json element will already be a float (e.g. "temp": 10.2).
Does it do any harm (is anything likely to break) if I just pass the json element (from whatever source) through a parseFloat(), even if it's already a float? It seems to work; I'm just thinking about good/bad practice and possible breakage in future or on a different platform.
Thanks.

You should be able to call parseFloat() on a float or a string without any problems. If it is a float already, it's converted to a string first, and then to a float again, so it's a little less efficient, but it shouldn't matter too much.
You should still check the result for NaN, in case there's something unexpected in the data.

The most appropriate method to convert any datatype to a number is to use the Number function:
In a non-constructor context (i.e., without the new operator),
Number can be used to perform a type conversion.
Number("1234") // 1234
Number(1234) // 1234
This method differs from parseFloat in these ways at least:
Number function does not perform "double-conversion" if the input is already a number (ref)
Parse float converts the input to a string then extracts the number (ref)
Number function returns common sense values for most datatypes e.g. Number(true) yields 1
Parse float uses the string value of input so parseFloat(true) tries to parse number from "true" and yields NaN
Number function fails when input string is an invalid number e.g. Number("123abc") yields NaN
Parse float tries to parse as much of a number as possible e.g. parseFloat("123abc") yields 123

If you are sure the value is always a valid number, you should use Number(stringOrNumber).
If you need some additional safety using parseFloat() you could also write your own function which is also performance optimized:
function toFloat(value) {
return typeof value === 'number' ? value : parseFloat(value);
}
I also created a jsPerf test case that shows the performance is >30% better than the plain parseFloat() for a 1:1 ratio between strings and numbers as input values.

Nope there is no problem with passing a number to it
MDN says as long as it can be converted to a number, nothing breaking should happen.
If the first character cannot be converted to a number, parseFloat returns NaN.
As an alternative, you could use the unary operator + which does basically the same thing as parseFloat and also returns NaN if it didn't work.
For instance:
var myFloat = +('10.5');
var myOtherFloat = parseFloat('10.5', 10);
var alreadyAFloat = parseFloat(10.5, 10);
console.log(myFloat === myOtherFloat && myOtherFloat === alreadyAFloat); // true

Wether it's a float or a String using parseFloat() is much safer to avoid all kind of errors.
As you said it will always work, but if you enforce it to be a float you will avoid getting any Exception.
For Example:
Both parseFloat('10.2', 10) and parseFloat(10.2, 10) will work
perfectly and will give you the same result which is 10.2.

Personally I can't see this being a problem what so ever, to be honest I would always use the parsefloat() for one reason, and that is safety. You can never be to sure what may happen, so always predict the worse :D

Related

how to handle more than 20 digit number (Big integer)?

My angular program, I need to pass the number which is more than 20 digit to the API request.
num: any;
this.num = 2019111122001424290521878689;
console.log(this.num); // It displays "2.0191111220014244e+27"
I tried to change string from number as below
console.log(this.num.toString()); // It displays "2.0191111220014244e+27"
My expectation is that I need to pass the original big integer into the API request. If I pass as below, it goes as "2.0191111220014244e+27".
BTW, I tried BigInt(this.num), which gives difference number.
Suggest me
In JavaScript, big integer literals have the letter n as a suffix:
var bigNum = 2019111122001424290521878689n;
console.log(bigNum);
For more information, see
MDN JavaScript Reference - BigInt
If you got a large number (> SAFE_INTEGER) from an API, in JSON format, and you want to get the exact value, as as string, you unfortunately can't use JSON.parse(), as it will use the number type and lose precision.
There are alternative JSON parsers out there like LosslessJSON that might solve your problem.
You can use BigInt.
BigInt is a built-in object that provides a way to represent whole numbers larger than 253 - 1, which is the largest number JavaScript can reliably represent with the Number primitive. BigInt can be used for arbitrarily large integers.
const theBiggestInt = 9007199254740991n;
const alsoHuge = BigInt(9007199254740991);
// ↪ 9007199254740991n
const hugeString = BigInt("9007199254740991");
// ↪ 9007199254740991n
const hugeHex = BigInt("0x1fffffffffffff");
// ↪ 9007199254740991n
const hugeBin = BigInt("0b11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111");
// ↪ 9007199254740991n
BigInt is similar to Number in some ways, but also differs in a few key matters — it cannot be used with methods in the built-in Math object and cannot be mixed with instances of Number in operations; they must be coerced to the same type. Be careful coercing values back and forth, however, as the precision of a BigInt may be lost when it is coerced to a Number.
Refer to
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/BigInt
The problem is that the number you have there is not an integer. Javascript can only store integers up to the value given by Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER. In chrome, this number is 9007199254740991.
The number you have is actually a floating point number, and converting it between floating point and integer will loose some precision.

Is using parseInt extraenous if unnecessary?

I am a beginner to coding and JavaScript but I am doing a practice exercise and I came across something I am unsure about.
var nameLength = parseInt(fullName.length);
var nameLength = fullName.length;
I used the first line not even thinking it would already be an integer, so should I still have included the parseInt or not?
Yes, remove var nameLength = parseInt(fullName.length); Below is your explanation:The parseInt() method in JavaScript is used to turn the integer value of a string into an integer. If I have string, say var s = "3";, I could use the + operator to it, but it wouldn't add as if they were numbers (ex. s += 9;, then s would equal "39"). You call the parseInt() method only if you have a value with the type of string. In your case, and in most, if not all languages, the .length or .length() of anything will return an integer. What you're doing is trying to convert a number to a number, which is (after I googled the definition) extraneous.

TypeScript: error when using parseInt() on a number

The JavaScript function parseInt can be used to force conversion of a given parameter to an integer, whether that parameter is a string, float number, number, etc.
In JavaScript, parseInt(1.2) would yield 1 with no errors, however, in TypeScript, it throws an error during compilation saying:
error TS2345: Argument of type 'number' is not assignable to parameter of type 'string'.
Am I missing something here or is it an expected behaviour from TypeScript?
Don't use parseInt to do this operation -- use Math.floor.
Using parseInt to floor a number is not always going to yield correct results. parseInt(4e21) returns 4, not 4e21. parseInt(-0) returns 0, not -0.
The function parseInt indeed expects a string in its first argument. Please check the documentation. Usually you can omit the second, radix argument and then it will fall back to the default of 10. But the safest is to always add the numeric system base as second argument (usually 10).
If you'd like to cast a general value to number, you can use the Number function, like this.
var myNumber = Number(myGeneralValue);
I think other people have already given lots of valid answers here, but in my opinion the easiest approach would be to call .toString() on the original value, and to explicit the radix:
parseInt((1.2).toString(), 10);
Look at the typing:
parseInt(string: string, radix?: number): number;
^^^^^^
The first argument needs to be a string. That's in line with the spec:
parseInt (string , radix)
The parseInt function produces an integer value dictated by interpretation of the contents of the string argument according to the specified radix.
In normal JS, the first argument is coerced to a string, based on the following rule in the spec:
Let inputString be ToString(string).
which is why parseInt(1.2) works.
Note that the spec allows radix to be undefined, which is the same as omitting it, hence the question mark in the radix?: number part of the signature. In this case, of course, it defaults to 10 (unless the string looks like 0xabc).
As mentioned in other answers, parseInt is not the best solution anyway if what you really want to do is a floor or truncation operation.
A bit old but to put another way in to the pot:
Math.trunc();
see here for details.
Why would you use parseInt in this case? Just use Math.floor or Math.ceil. parseInt expects a string as an argument and not a number. Hence your error
There are different manifestations when negative numbers between 'Math.floor' and 'parseInt'.
you should use this:
1.2 | 0
or (1.2).toFixed(0)

Big JavaScript ints won't cast to String without rounding

I am trying to pass a big int to a function from an onclick event in HTML. The ints are always very long, and I cannot seem to pass it to my function without rounding. I have tried some bigInt libraries to the same end, though I would much rather prefer simple string casting.
My js function:
function initBuy(id){
console.log(id.toString());
}
and my HTML event:
<dt></dt><dd><a id="buy" onclick="initBuy(String(' + all_data[index].listing_id + '))" class="btn btn-success">Buy This Item</a></dd>
An example of a passed int:
13934317650292905813
and the result of clicking the button:
"13934317650292906000"
The passed int looks fine when I write it to an elements' text. When I pass it to a function, however, it's rounding it.
From the post here the maximum value an integer in Javascript could take is 9007199254740992
Your number 13934317650292905813 is far bigger than that.
From this post here you can use BigInteger.js to accommodate big integers
You say in your (ambiguous) question:
'The passed int looks fine when I write it to an elements' text. When I pass it to a function, however, it's rounding it.'
and in your comment:
If I set all_data[index].listing_id to an elements text, it works.
That means you are already getting the 'integer' as text-string in JSON.
Nothing in your current question converts the string to a number (I tested it).
As soon as the string would be converted to a number it would overflow IEEE 754's max accuracy of 2^53=9007199254740992.
Note that: initBuy(String(' + all_data[index].listing_id + '))
will return the string + all_data[index].listing_id + (as it should).
Passing the string '13934317650292905813' to your initBuy function also returns string '13934317650292905813' (as it should).
In other words, I can not reproduce your problem using the code you have supplied.
I assume you have simplified your initBuy function for this question (you'd have to post the original one for further examination, preferably together with an excerpt of a relevant part of the raw JSON string).
I assume you might accidentally convert the string to a number (probably using a +) inside that function!

Getting the numeric value after the hyphen in a string

How can I extract and get just the numeric value after the hyphen in a string?
Here is the input string:
var x = "-2147467259"
After some processing.... return:
alert(2147467259)
How do I accomplish this?
You could replace away the hyphen:
alert(+x.replace("-", ""));
And yes, the + is important. It converts a string to a number; so you're removing the hypen by replacing it with nothing, and then essentially casting the result of that operation into a number. This operation will also work if no hyphen is present.
You could also use substr to achieve this:
alert(+x.substr(1));
You could also use parseInt to convert the string to a number (which will end up negative if a hyphen is persent), and then find its absolute value:
alert(Math.abs(parseInt(x, 10));
As Bergi notes, if you can be sure that the first character in the string is always a hyphen, you can simple return its negative, which will by default cast the value into a number and then perform the negative operation on it:
alert(-x);
You could also check to see if the number is negative or positive via a tertiary operator and then perform the respective operation on it to ensure that it is a positive Number:
x = x >= 0 ? +x : -x;
This may be cheaper in terms of performance than using Math.abs, but the difference will be minuscule either way.
As you can see, there really are a variety of ways to achieve this. I'd recommend reading up on JavaScript string functions and number manipulation in general, as well as examining JavaScript's Math object to get a feel for what tools are available to you when you go to solve a problem.
How about:
Math.abs(parseInt("-2147467259"))
Or
"-2147467259".replace('-','')
or
"-2147467259".replace(/\-/,'')
#1 option is converting the string to numbers. The #2 approach is removing all - from the string and the #3 option even though it will not be necessary on this example uses Regular Expression but I wanted to show the possibility of using RegEx in replace situations.
If you need a number as the final value #1 is your choice if you need strings #2 is your choice.

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