If you want to convert to integers only, another fast (and short) way is the double-bitwise not (i.e. using two tilde characters):
e.g.
~~x;
Reference: http://james.padolsey.com/cool-stuff/double-bitwise-not/
The 5 common ways I know so far to convert a string to a number all have their differences (there are more bitwise operators that work, but they all give the same result as ~~
). This JSFiddle shows the different results you can expect in the debug console: http://jsfiddle.net/TrueBlueAussie/j7x0q0e3/22/
var values = ["123",
undefined,
"not a number",
"123.45",
"1234 error",
"2147483648",
"4999999999"
];
for (var i = 0; i < values.length; i++){
var x = values[i];
console.log(x);
console.log(" Number(x) = " + Number(x));
console.log(" parseInt(x, 10) = " + parseInt(x, 10));
console.log(" parseFloat(x) = " + parseFloat(x));
console.log(" +x = " + +x);
console.log(" ~~x = " + ~~x);
}
123
Number(x) = 123
parseInt(x, 10) = 123
parseFloat(x) = 123
+x = 123
~~x = 123
undefined
Number(x) = NaN
parseInt(x, 10) = NaN
parseFloat(x) = NaN
+x = NaN
~~x = 0
null
Number(x) = 0
parseInt(x, 10) = NaN
parseFloat(x) = NaN
+x = 0
~~x = 0
"not a number"
Number(x) = NaN
parseInt(x, 10) = NaN
parseFloat(x) = NaN
+x = NaN
~~x = 0
123.45
Number(x) = 123.45
parseInt(x, 10) = 123
parseFloat(x) = 123.45
+x = 123.45
~~x = 123
1234 error
Number(x) = NaN
parseInt(x, 10) = 1234
parseFloat(x) = 1234
+x = NaN
~~x = 0
2147483648
Number(x) = 2147483648
parseInt(x, 10) = 2147483648
parseFloat(x) = 2147483648
+x = 2147483648
~~x = -2147483648
4999999999
Number(x) = 4999999999
parseInt(x, 10) = 4999999999
parseFloat(x) = 4999999999
+x = 4999999999
~~x = 705032703
The ~~x
version results in a number in "more" cases, where others often result in undefined
, but it fails for invalid input (e.g. it will return 0
if the string contains non-number characters after a valid number).
Please note: Integer overflow and/or bit truncation can occur with ~~
, but not the other conversions. While it is unusual to be entering such large values, you need to be aware of this. Example updated to include much larger values.
Some Perf tests indicate that the standard parseInt
and parseFloat
functions are actually the fastest options, presumably highly optimised by browsers, but it all depends on your requirement as all options are fast enough: http://jsperf.com/best-of-string-to-number-conversion/37
This all depends on how the perf tests are configured as some show parseInt/parseFloat to be much slower.