29/07/2022, 07:55 JavaScript Numbers
JavaScript Numbers
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Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn about the JavaScript number types and how to use them
effectively.
Introduction to the JavaScript Number
JavaScript uses the number type to represent both integers and floating-point values. Technically, the
JavaScript number type uses the IEEE-754 format.
ES2020 introduced a new primitive type bigint (https://www.javascripttutorial.net/es-next/javascript-
bigint/) that represent big integer numbers whose values are larger than 253 – 1.
To support various types of numbers, JavaScript uses different number literal formats.
Integer numbers
The following shows how to declare a variable that holds a decimal integer:
let counter = 100;
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29/07/2022, 07:55 JavaScript Numbers
Integers can be represented in the following formats:
Octal (base 8)
Hexadecimal (based 16)
When you use the octal and hexadecimal numbers in arithmetic operations, JavaScript treats them as
decimal numbers.
Octal numbers
An octal literal number starts with the digit zero (0) followed by a sequence of octal digits (numbers
from 0 through 7). For example:
let num = 071;
console.log(num);
Output:
57
If an octal number contains a number that is not in the range from 0 to 7, the JavaScript engine
ignores the 0 and treats the number as a decimal. For example:
let num = 080;
console.log(num);
Output:
80
This implicit behavior might cause issues. Therefore, ES6 introduced a new octal literal
(https://www.javascripttutorial.net/es6/octal-and-binary-literals/) that starts with the 0o followed by a sequence
of octal digits (from 0 to 7). For example:
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let num = 0o71;
console.log(num);
Output:
57
If you an invalid number after 0o , JavaScript will issue a syntax error like this:
let num = 0o80;
console.log(num);
Output:
let num = 0o80;
^^
SyntaxError: Invalid or unexpected token
Hexadecimal numbers
Hexadecimal numbers start with 0x or 0X followed by any number of hexadecimal digits (0 through 9,
and a through f). For example:
let num = 0x1a;
console.log(num);
Output:
26
Floating-point numbers
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To define a floating-point literal number, you include a decimal point and at least one number after
that. For example:
let price = 9.99;
let tax = 0.08;
let discount = .05; // valid but not recommeded
When you have a very big number, you can use e-notation. E-notation indicates a number should be
multiplied by 10 raised to a given power. For example:
let amount = 3.14e7;
console.log(amount);
Output:
31400000
The notation 3.14e7 means that take 3.14 and multiply it by 107 .
Likewise, you can use the E-notation to represent a very small number. For example:
let amount = 5e-7;
console.log(amount);
Output:
0.0000005
The 5e-7 notation means that take 5 and divide it by 10,000,000.
Also, JavaScript automatically converts any floating-point number with at least six zeros after the
decimal point into e-notation. For example:
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let amount = 0.0000005;
console.log(amount);
Output:
5e-7
Floating-point numbers are accurate up to 17 decimal places. When you perform arithmetic
operations on floating-point numbers, you often get the approximate result. For example:
let amount = 0.2 + 0.1;
console.log(amount);
Output:
0.30000000000000004
Big Integers
JavaScript introduced the bigint type starting in ES2022. The bigint type stores whole numbers
whose values are greater than 253 – 1.
A big integer literal has the n character at the end of an integer literal like this:
let pageView = 9007199254740991n;
Summary
JavaScript Number type reprensents both integer and floating-point numbers.
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