[javascript] Is there a standard function to check for null, undefined, or blank variables in JavaScript?

Is there a universal JavaScript function that checks that a variable has a value and ensures that it's not undefined or null? I've got this code, but I'm not sure if it covers all cases:

function isEmpty(val){
    return (val === undefined || val == null || val.length <= 0) ? true : false;
}

You may find the following function useful:

function typeOf(obj) {
  return {}.toString.call(obj).split(' ')[1].slice(0, -1).toLowerCase();
}

Or in ES7 (comment if further improvements)

function typeOf(obj) {
  const { toString } = Object.prototype;
  const stringified = obj::toString();
  const type = stringified.split(' ')[1].slice(0, -1);

  return type.toLowerCase();
}

Results:

typeOf(); //undefined
typeOf(null); //null
typeOf(NaN); //number
typeOf(5); //number
typeOf({}); //object
typeOf([]); //array
typeOf(''); //string
typeOf(function () {}); //function
typeOf(/a/) //regexp
typeOf(new Date()) //date
typeOf(new WeakMap()) //weakmap
typeOf(new Map()) //map

"Note that the bind operator (::) is not part of ES2016 (ES7) nor any later edition of the ECMAScript standard at all. It's currently a stage 0 (strawman) proposal for being introduced to the language." – Simon Kjellberg. the author wishes to add his support for this beautiful proposal to receive royal ascension.

A solution I like a lot:

Let's define that a blank variable is null, or undefined, or if it has length, it is zero, or if it is an object, it has no keys:

function isEmpty (value) {
  return (
    // null or undefined
    (value == null) ||

    // has length and it's zero
    (value.hasOwnProperty('length') && value.length === 0) ||

    // is an Object and has no keys
    (value.constructor === Object && Object.keys(value).length === 0)
  )
}

Returns:

• true: undefined, null, "", [], {}
• false: true, false, 1, 0, -1, "foo", [1, 2, 3], { foo: 1 }

Try Boolean() and isNaN() (for number type) to check a variable has a value or not.

function isEmpty(val) {
  return typeof val === 'number' ? isNaN(val) : !Boolean(val);
}

var emptyVals = [undefined, null, false, NaN, ''];
emptyVals.forEach(v => console.log(isEmpty(v)));

If you prefer plain javascript try this:

  /**
   * Checks if `value` is empty. Arrays, strings, or `arguments` objects with a
   * length of `0` and objects with no own enumerable properties are considered
   * "empty".
   *
   * @static
   * @memberOf _
   * @category Objects
   * @param {Array|Object|string} value The value to inspect.
   * @returns {boolean} Returns `true` if the `value` is empty, else `false`.
   * @example
   *
   * _.isEmpty([1, 2, 3]);
   * // => false
   *
   * _.isEmpty([]);
   * // => true
   *
   * _.isEmpty({});
   * // => true
   *
   * _.isEmpty('');
   * // => true
   */

function isEmpty(value) {
    if (!value) {
      return true;
    }
    if (isArray(value) || isString(value)) {
      return !value.length;
    }
    for (var key in value) {
      if (hasOwnProperty.call(value, key)) {
        return false;
      }
    }
    return true;
  }

Otherwise, if you are already using underscore or lodash, try:

_.isEmpty(value)

Take a look at the new ECMAScript Nullish coalescing operator

You can think of this feature - the ?? operator - as a way to “fall back” to a default value when dealing with null or undefined.

let x = foo ?? bar();

Again, the above code is equivalent to the following.

let x = (foo !== null && foo !== undefined) ? foo : bar();

Vacuousness

Truthiness/Falsiness

Null vs Undefined

• Trying to access a non-existent property gives undefined
• Omitting a parameter when calling a function results in that parameter receiving undefined:

let f = a => a;
console.log(f('hi'));
console.log(f());

• Parameters with default values receive the default only when given undefined, not null:

let f = (v='hello') => v;
console.log(f(null));
console.log(f(undefined));

Non-generic Vacuousness

let isType = (value, Cls) => {
  // Intentional use of loose comparison operator detects `null`
  // and `undefined`, and nothing else!
  return value != null && Object.getPrototypeOf(value).constructor === Cls;
};

Note that this function ignores polymorphism - it expects value to be a direct instance of Cls, and not an instance of a subclass of Cls. I avoid instanceof for two main reasons:

• ([] instanceof Object) === true ("An Array is an Object")
• ('' instanceof String) === false ("A String is not a String")

Note that Object.getPrototypeOf is used to avoid a case like let v = { constructor: String }; The isType function still returns correctly for isType(v, String) (false), and isType(v, Object) (true).

Overall, I recommend using this isType function along with these tips:

• Minimize the amount of code processing values of unknown type. E.g., for let v = JSON.parse(someRawValue);, our v variable is now of unknown type. As early as possible, we should limit our possibilities. The best way to do this can be by requiring a particular type: e.g. if (!isType(v, Array)) throw new Error('Expected Array'); - this is a really quick and expressive way to remove the generic nature of v, and ensure it's always an Array. Sometimes, though, we need to allow v to be of multiple types. In those cases, we should create blocks of code where v is no longer generic, as early as possible:

if (isType(v, String)) {
  /* v isn't generic in this block - It's a String! */
} else if (isType(v, Number)) {
  /* v isn't generic in this block - It's a Number! */
} else if (isType(v, Array)) {
  /* v isn't generic in this block - it's an Array! */
} else {
  throw new Error('Expected String, Number, or Array');
}

• Always use "whitelists" for validation. If you require a value to be, e.g., a String, Number, or Array, check for those 3 "white" possibilities, and throw an Error if none of the 3 are satisfied. We should be able to see that checking for "black" possibilities isn't very useful: Say we write if (v === null) throw new Error('Null value rejected'); - this is great for ensuring that null values don't make it through, but if a value does make it through, we still know hardly anything about it. A value v which passes this null-check is still VERY generic - it's anything but null! Blacklists hardly dispell generic-ness.
• Unless a value is null, never consider "a vacuous value". Instead, consider "an X which is vacuous". Essentially, never consider doing anything like if (isEmpty(val)) { /* ... */ } - no matter how that isEmpty function is implemented (I don't want to know...), it isn't meaningful! And it's way too generic! Vacuousness should only be calculated with knowledge of val's type. Vacuousness-checks should look like this:

  • "A string, with no chars": if (isType(val, String) && val.length === 0) ...

  • "An Object, with 0 props": if (isType(val, Object) && Object.entries(val).length === 0) ...

  • "A number, equal or less than zero": if (isType(val, Number) && val <= 0) ...

  • "An Array, with no items": if (isType(val, Array) && val.length === 0) ...

  • The only exception is when null is used to signify certain functionality. In this case it's meaningful to say: "A vacuous value": if (val === null) ...

For everyone coming here for having similar question, the following works great and I have it in my library the last years:

(function(g3, $, window, document, undefined){
   g3.utils = g3.utils || {};
/********************************Function type()********************************
* Returns a lowercase string representation of an object's constructor.
* @module {g3.utils}
* @function {g3.utils.type}
* @public
* @param {Type} 'obj' is any type native, host or custom.
* @return {String} Returns a lowercase string representing the object's 
* constructor which is different from word 'object' if they are not custom.
* @reference http://perfectionkills.com/instanceof-considered-harmful-or-how-to-write-a-robust-isarray/
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3215046/differentiating-between-arrays-and-hashes-in-javascript
* http://javascript.info/tutorial/type-detection
*******************************************************************************/
g3.utils.type = function (obj){
   if(obj === null)
      return 'null';
   else if(typeof obj === 'undefined')
      return 'undefined';
   return Object.prototype.toString.call(obj).match(/^\[object\s(.*)\]$/)[1].toLowerCase();
};
}(window.g3 = window.g3 || {}, jQuery, window, document));

var myNewValue = myObject && myObject.child && myObject.child.myValue;

This will never throw an error. If myObject, child, or myValue is null then myNewValue will be null. No errors will be thrown

! check for empty strings (""), null, undefined, false and the number 0 and NaN. Say, if a string is empty var name = "" then console.log(!name) returns true.

function isEmpty(val){
  return !val;
}

this function will return true if val is empty, null, undefined, false, the number 0 or NaN.

OR

According to your problem domain you can just use like !val or !!val.

This covers empty Array and empty Object also

null, undefined, ' ', 0, [ ], { }

isEmpty = (value) => (!value  || (typeof v === 'object' &&
   Object.keys(value).length < 1));

Most of the existing answers failed for my use case, most returned empty if a function was assigned to the variable or if NaN was returned. Pascal's answer was good.

Here's my implementation, please test and let me know if you find anything. You can see how I tested this function here.

function isEmpty(value) {
  return (
    // Null or undefined.
    (value == null) ||
    // Check if a Set() or Map() is empty
    (value.size === 0) ||
    // NaN - The only JavaScript value that is unequal to itself.
    (value !== value) ||
    // Length is zero && it's not a function.
    (value.length === 0 && typeof value !== "function") ||
    // Is an Object && has no keys.
    (value.constructor === Object && Object.keys(value).length === 0)
  )
}

Returns:

• true: undefined, null, "", [], {}, NaN, new Set(), //
• false: true, false, 1, 0, -1, "foo", [1, 2, 3], { foo: 1 }, function () {}

If you want to avoid getting true if the value is any of the following, according to jAndy's answer:

• null
• undefined
• NaN
• empty string ("")
• 0
• false

One possible solution that might avoid getting truthy values is the following:

function isUsable(valueToCheck) {
    if (valueToCheck === 0     || // Avoid returning false if the value is 0.
        valueToCheck === ''    || // Avoid returning false if the value is an empty string.
        valueToCheck === false || // Avoid returning false if the value is false.
        valueToCheck)             // Returns true if it isn't null, undefined, or NaN.
    {
        return true;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

It would be used as follows:

if (isUsable(x)) {
    // It is usable!
}
// Make sure to avoid placing the logical NOT operator before the parameter (isUsable(!x)) and instead, use it before the function, to check the returned value.
if (!isUsable(x)) {
    // It is NOT usable!
}

In addition to those scenarios, you may want to return false if the object or array is empty:

• Object: {} (Using ECMA 7+)
• Array: [] (Using ECMA 5+)

You would go about it this way:

function isEmptyObject(valueToCheck) {
    if(typeof valueToCheck === 'object' && !Object.keys(valueToCheck).length){
        // Object is empty!
        return true;
    } else {
        // Object is not empty!
        return false;
    }
}

function isEmptyArray(valueToCheck) {
    if(Array.isArray(valueToCheck) && !valueToCheck.length) {
        // Array is empty!
        return true;
    } else {
        // Array is not empty!
        return false;
    }
}

If you wish to check for all whitespace strings (" "), you may do the following:

function isAllWhitespace(){
    if (valueToCheck.match(/^ *$/) !== null) {
        // Is all whitespaces!
        return true;
    } else {
        // Is not all whitespaces!
        return false;
    }
}

Note: hasOwnProperty returns true for empty strings, 0, false, NaN, null, and undefined, if the variable was declared as any of them, so it might not be the best to use. The function may be modified to use it to show that it was declared, but is not usable.

You are a bit overdoing it. To check if a variable is not given a value, you would only need to check against undefined and null.

function isEmpty(value){
    return (typeof value === "undefined" || value === null);
}

This is assuming 0, "", and objects(even empty object and array) are valid "values".

To check Default Value

function typeOfVar (obj) {
      return {}.toString.call(obj).split(' ')[1].slice(0, -1).toLowerCase();
}
function isVariableHaveDefaltVal(variable) {
    if ( typeof(variable) === 'string' ) {  // number, boolean, string, object 
        console.log(' Any data Between single/double Quotes is treated as String ');        
        return (variable.trim().length === 0) ? true : false;
    }else if ( typeof(variable) === 'boolean' ) {
      console.log('boolean value with default value \'false\'');
        return (variable === false) ? true : false;
    }else if ( typeof(variable) === 'undefined' ) {
        console.log('EX: var a; variable is created, but has the default value of undefined.'); 
        return true;
    }else if ( typeof(variable) === 'number' ) { 
        console.log('number : '+variable);
        return (variable === 0 ) ? true : false;
    }else if ( typeof(variable) === 'object' ) {
   //   -----Object-----
        if (typeOfVar(variable) === 'array' && variable.length === 0) {
            console.log('\t Object Array with length = ' + [].length); // Object.keys(variable)
            return true;
        }else if (typeOfVar(variable) === 'string' && variable.length === 0 ) {
            console.log('\t Object String with length = ' + variable.length);
            return true;
        }else if (typeOfVar(variable) === 'boolean' ) {
            console.log('\t Object Boolean = ' + variable);
            return (variable === false) ? true : false;
        }else if (typeOfVar(variable) === 'number' ) {
            console.log('\t Object Number = ' + variable);
            return (variable === 0 ) ? true : false;
        }else if (typeOfVar(variable) === 'regexp' && variable.source.trim().length === 0 ) {
       console.log('\t Object Regular Expression : ');
        return true;
        }else if (variable === null) {
       console.log('\t Object null value');
        return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}
var str = "A Basket For Every Occasion";
str = str.replace(/\s/g, "-");
//The "g" flag in the regex will cause all spaces to get replaced.

check Result:

isVariableHaveDefaltVal(' '); // string          
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(false); // boolean       
var a;           
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(a);               
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(0); // number             
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(parseInt('')); // NAN isNAN(' '); - true         
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(null);              
isVariableHaveDefaltVal([]);               
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(/ /);              
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(new Object(''));               
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(new Object(false));            
isVariableHaveDefaltVal(new Object(0)); 
typeOfVar( function() {} );

I used @Vix function() to check the object of which type.

using instansof «

var prototypes_or_Literals = function (obj) {
    switch (typeof(obj)) {
        // object prototypes
        case 'object':
            if (obj instanceof Array)
                return '[object Array]';
            else if (obj instanceof Date)
                return '[object Date]';
            else if (obj instanceof RegExp)
                return '[object regexp]';
            else if (obj instanceof String)
                return '[object String]';
            else if (obj instanceof Number)
                return '[object Number]';

            else
                return 'object';
        // object literals
        default:
            return typeof(obj);
    }   
};
output test «
prototypes_or_Literals( '' ) // "string"
prototypes_or_Literals( new String('') ) // "[object String]"
Object.prototype.toString.call("foo bar") //"[object String]"        

Code on GitHub

const isEmpty = value => (
  (!value && value !== 0 && value !== false)
  || (Array.isArray(value) && value.length === 0)
  || (isObject(value) && Object.keys(value).length === 0)
  || (typeof value.size === 'number' && value.size === 0)

  // `WeekMap.length` is supposed to exist!?
  || (typeof value.length === 'number'
      && typeof value !== 'function' && value.length === 0)
);

// Source: https://levelup.gitconnected.com/javascript-check-if-a-variable-is-an-object-and-nothing-else-not-an-array-a-set-etc-a3987ea08fd7
const isObject = value =>
  Object.prototype.toString.call(value) === '[object Object]';

Poor man's tests

const test = () => {
  const run = (label, values, expected) => {
    const length = values.length;
    console.group(`${label} (${length} tests)`);
    values.map((v, i) => {
      console.assert(isEmpty(v) === expected, `${i}: ${v}`);
    });
    console.groupEnd();
  };

  const empty = [
    null, undefined, NaN, '', {}, [],
    new Set(), new Set([]), new Map(), new Map([]),
  ];
  const notEmpty = [
    ' ', 'a', 0, 1, -1, false, true, {a: 1}, [0],
    new Set([0]), new Map([['a', 1]]),
    new WeakMap().set({}, 1),
    new Date(), /a/, new RegExp(), () => {},
  ];
  const shouldBeEmpty = [
    {undefined: undefined}, new Map([[]]),
  ];

  run('EMPTY', empty, true);
  run('NOT EMPTY', notEmpty, false);
  run('SHOULD BE EMPTY', shouldBeEmpty, true);
};

Test results:

EMPTY (10 tests)
NOT EMPTY (16 tests)
SHOULD BE EMPTY (2 tests)
  Assertion failed: 0: [object Object]
  Assertion failed: 1: [object Map]

For my case I tried with if null,'', !variable, But it did not work.

See my code below to get the text from an html field

var status=$(this).text(); //for example (for my case)

if there was no value(no text) in the status variable ,I was trying to set the value 'novalue' to status variable.

the following code worked.

if(status == false)
{
   status='novalue';
} 

when there was no text found for satus variable the above code assigned 'novalue' to the status variable

try{

     let vari = obj.propTest; // obj may be don't have propTest property

        ...
} catch(NullException){
    // do something here
}

I think using try catch will avoid any error of null check, also in Angular or JavaScript Just catching null exception and process in it.

you can always use loadash functions ,like _.nil or _.undefined .They are pretty good to use.

This will check if variable of indeterminate nesting is undefined

function Undef(str) 
{
  var ary = str.split('.');
  var w = window;
  for (i in ary) {
    try      { if (typeof(w = w[ary[i]]) === "undefined") return true; }
    catch(e) { return true; }
  }
  return false;
}

if (!Undef("google.translate.TranslateElement")) {

The above checks if the Google translate function TranslateElement exists. This is equivalent to:

if (!(typeof google === "undefined" 
 || typeof google.translate === "undefined" 
 || typeof google.translate.TranslateElement === "undefined")) {

function notEmpty(value){
  return (typeof value !== 'undefined' && value.trim().length);
}

it will also check white spaces (' ') along with following:

• null ,undefined ,NaN ,empty ,string ("") ,0 ,false

Will return false only for undefined and null:

return value ?? false

This condition check

if (!!foo) {
    //foo is defined
}

is all you need.

This function check for empty object {},empty array [], null, undefined and blank string ""

function isEmpty(val) {
  //check for empty object {}, array []
  if (val !== null && typeof val === 'object') {
    if (Object.keys(obj).length === 0) {
      return true;
    }
  }
  //check for undefined, null and "" 
  else if (val == null || val === "") {
    return true;
  }
  return false;
}

var val={};
isEmpty(val) -> true
val=[];
isEmpty(val) -> true
isEmpty(undefined) -> true
isEmpty(null) -> true
isEmpty("") -> true
isEmpty(false) -> false
isEmpty(0) -> false

Try With Different Logic. You can use bellow code for check all four(4) condition for validation like not null, not blank, not undefined and not zero only use this code (!(!(variable))) in javascript and jquery.

function myFunction() {
    var data;  //The Values can be like as null, blank, undefined, zero you can test

    if(!(!(data)))
    {
        alert("data "+data);
    } 
    else 
    {
        alert("data is "+data);
    }
}

The probably shortest answer is

val==null || val==''

if you change rigth side to val==='' then empty array will give false. Proof

function isEmpty(val){_x000D_
    return val==null || val==''_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
// ------------_x000D_
// TEST_x000D_
// ------------_x000D_
_x000D_
var log = (name,val) => console.log(`${name} -> ${isEmpty(val)}`);_x000D_
_x000D_
log('null', null);_x000D_
log('undefined', undefined);_x000D_
log('NaN', NaN);_x000D_
log('""', "");_x000D_
log('{}', {});_x000D_
log('[]', []);_x000D_
log('[1]', [1]);_x000D_
log('[0]', [0]);_x000D_
log('[[]]', [[]]);_x000D_
log('true', true);_x000D_
log('false', false);_x000D_
log('"true"', "true");_x000D_
log('"false"', "false");_x000D_
log('Infinity', Infinity);_x000D_
log('-Infinity', -Infinity);_x000D_
log('1', 1);_x000D_
log('0', 0);_x000D_
log('-1', -1);_x000D_
log('"1"', "1");_x000D_
log('"0"', "0");_x000D_
log('"-1"', "-1");_x000D_
_x000D_
// "void 0" case_x000D_
console.log('---\n"true" is:', true);_x000D_
console.log('"void 0" is:', void 0);_x000D_
log(void 0,void 0); // "void 0" is "undefined" - so we should get here TRUE

More details about == (source here)

BONUS: Reason why === is more clear than ==

To write clear and easy understandable code, use explicite list of accepted values

val===undefined || val===null || val===''|| (Array.isArray(val) && val.length===0)

function isEmpty(val){_x000D_
    return val===undefined || val===null || val==='' || (Array.isArray(val) && val.length===0)_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
// ------------_x000D_
// TEST_x000D_
// ------------_x000D_
_x000D_
var log = (name,val) => console.log(`${name} -> ${isEmpty(val)}`);_x000D_
_x000D_
log('null', null);_x000D_
log('undefined', undefined);_x000D_
log('NaN', NaN);_x000D_
log('""', "");_x000D_
log('{}', {});_x000D_
log('[]', []);_x000D_
log('[1]', [1]);_x000D_
log('[0]', [0]);_x000D_
log('[[]]', [[]]);_x000D_
log('true', true);_x000D_
log('false', false);_x000D_
log('"true"', "true");_x000D_
log('"false"', "false");_x000D_
log('Infinity', Infinity);_x000D_
log('-Infinity', -Infinity);_x000D_
log('1', 1);_x000D_
log('0', 0);_x000D_
log('-1', -1);_x000D_
log('"1"', "1");_x000D_
log('"0"', "0");_x000D_
log('"-1"', "-1");_x000D_
_x000D_
// "void 0" case_x000D_
console.log('---\n"true" is:', true);_x000D_
console.log('"void 0" is:', void 0);_x000D_
log(void 0,void 0); // "void 0" is "undefined" - so we should get here TRUE

function isEmpty(obj) {
    if (typeof obj == 'number') return false;
    else if (typeof obj == 'string') return obj.length == 0;
    else if (Array.isArray(obj)) return obj.length == 0;
    else if (typeof obj == 'object') return obj == null || Object.keys(obj).length == 0;
    else if (typeof obj == 'boolean') return false;
    else return !obj;
}

In ES6 with trim to handle whitespace strings:

const isEmpty = value => {
    if (typeof value === 'number') return false
    else if (typeof value === 'string') return value.trim().length === 0
    else if (Array.isArray(value)) return value.length === 0
    else if (typeof value === 'object') return value == null || Object.keys(value).length === 0
    else if (typeof value === 'boolean') return false
    else return !value
}

function isEmpty(val){
    return !val;
}

but this solution is over-engineered, if you dont'want to modify the function later for busines-model needings, then is cleaner to use it directly in code:

if(!val)...

It may be usefull.

All values in array represent what you want to be (null, undefined or another things) and you search what you want in it.

var variablesWhatILookFor = [null, undefined, ''];
variablesWhatILookFor.indexOf(document.DocumentNumberLabel) > -1

Although an oldie, what forget is that they should wrap their code block and then catch the error and then test...

function checkup( t ){
  try{
    for(p in t){
      if( p.hasOwnProperty( t ) ){
        return true;
      }
    }
    return false;
  }catch(e){
    console.log("ERROR : "+e);
    return e;
  }
}

So you really don't have to check for a potential problem before hand, you simply catch it and then deal with it how you want.

If you are using TypeScript and don't want to account for "values those are false" then this is the solution for you:

First: import { isNullOrUndefined } from 'util';

Then: isNullOrUndefined(this.yourVariableName)

Please Note: As mentioned below this is now deprecated, use value === undefined || value === null instead. ref.

return val || 'Handle empty variable'

is a really nice and clean way to handle it in a lot of places, can also be used to assign variables

const res = val || 'default value'

1. you can use the arguments
2. become arguments to array
3. filter

function validateAttrs(arg1, arg2, arg3,arg4){
    var args = Object.values(arguments);
    return (args.filter(x=> x===null || !x)).length<=0
}
console.log(validateAttrs('1',2, 3, 4));
console.log(validateAttrs('1',2, 3, null));
console.log(validateAttrs('1',undefined, 3, 4));
console.log(validateAttrs('1',2, '', 4));
console.log(validateAttrs('1',2, 3, null));

function isEmpty(value){
  return (value == null || value.length === 0);
}

This will return true for

undefined  // Because undefined == null

null

[]

""

and zero argument functions since a function's length is the number of declared parameters it takes.

To disallow the latter category, you might want to just check for blank strings

function isEmpty(value){
  return (value == null || value === '');
}

Below worked for me. Please do a slight change to make this fast

function isEmpty(obj) {
    if (!obj) return true;
    if (typeof obj == 'number') return false;
    else if (typeof obj == 'string') return obj.length == 0;
    else if (Array.isArray(obj)) return obj.length == 0;
    else if (typeof obj == 'object') return obj == null || Object.keys(obj).length == 0;
    else if (typeof obj == 'boolean') return false;
}

The first answer with best rating is wrong. If value is undefined it will throw an exception in modern browsers. You have to use:

if (typeof(value) !== "undefined" && value)

or

if (typeof value  !== "undefined" && value)

I think using the ? operator is slightly cleaner.

var ? function_if_exists() : function_if_doesnt_exist();

Here's mine - returns true if value is null, undefined, etc or blank (ie contains only blank spaces):

function stringIsEmpty(value) {

    return value ? value.trim().length == 0 : true;

}

This is the safest check and I haven't seen it posted here exactly like that:

if (typeof value !== 'undefined' && value) {
    //deal with value'
};

It will cover cases where value was never defined, and also any of these:

• null
• undefined (value of undefined is not the same as a parameter that was never defined)
• 0
• "" (empty string)
• false
• NaN

_{Edited: Changed to strict equality (!==) because it's the norm by now ;)}

If the variable hasn't been declared, you wont be able to test for undefined using a function because you will get an error.

if (foo) {}
function (bar) {}(foo)

Both will generate an error if foo has not been declared.

If you want to test if a variable has been declared you can use

typeof foo != "undefined"

if you want to test if foo has been declared and it has a value you can use

if (typeof foo != "undefined" && foo) {
    //code here
}

The optional chaining operator provides a way to simplify accessing values through connected objects when it's possible that a reference or function may be undefined or null.

let customer = {
  name: "Carl",
  details: {
    age: 82,
    location: "Paradise Falls" // detailed address is unknown
  }
};
let customerCity = customer.details?.address?.city;

The nullish coalescing operator may be used after optional chaining in order to build a default value when none was found:

let customer = {
  name: "Carl",
  details: { age: 82 }
};
const customerCity = customer?.city ?? "Unknown city";
console.log(customerCity); // Unknown city

You can directly use the equality operator

<script>
    var firstName;
    var lastName = null;
    /* Since null == undefined is true, the following statements will catch both null and undefined */
        if(firstName == null){
            alert('Variable "firstName" is undefined.');
        }    
        if(lastName == null){
           alert('Variable "lastName" is null.');
        }
</script>

demo @ How to determine if variable is undefined or null using JavaScript

The verbose method to check if value is undefined or null is:

return value === undefined || value === null;

You can also use the == operator but this expects one to know all the rules:

return value == null; // also returns true if value is undefined