JavaScript Invocation Context(this) Interview Questions

As the name indicates, unary operators work on a single operand.

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The four unary arithmetic operators are:

1. +
2. -
3. ++
4. --

+ and - can be used as binary operators also. All 4 unary arithmetic operators convert their non-numeric operands to a number or NaN.

Unary Plus

The unary plus(+) operator converts its operand to a number or NaN and returns that converted value. When used with an operand that is already a number, it does not do anything.

console.log(+"3.14"); // 3.14
console.log(+"3.14abc"); // NaN
console.log(+"abc"); // NaN
console.log(+true); // 1
console.log(+false); // 0
console.log(+null); // 0
console.log(+undefined); // NaN
console.log(+{}); // NaN

So unary + operator can be used to convert a data type to its number equivalent. Note that, null is converted to 0 and undefined is converted to NaN.

Unary Minus

When minus(-) is used as an unary operator, it first converts the operand to a number if required, then changes the sign of the number.

console.log(-2); // -2
console.log(-(-3)); // 3

Increment

The increment(++) operator increments(adds 1) to its single operand. The operand should be either a variable, an element of an array or a property of an object.

When ++ is used before the operand, it is called pre-increment operation. Here the increment expression increments the operand and returns the incremented value.

var a = 1;
console.log(++a); // 2

When ++ is used after the operand, it is called post-increment operation. Here the increment expression increments the operand and returns the unincremented value.

var a = 1;
console.log(a++); // 1

++a is not always equal to a=a+1. If the value of a is a string "2", ++a results in 3 and a=a+1 results in "21". This is because ++ works only with numbers and converts its operand to number.

Decrement

The decrement(--) operator decrements(subtracts 1) from its single operand. The operand should be either a variable, an element of an array or a property of an object.

When -- is used before the operand, it is called pre-decrement operation. Here the decrement expression decrements the operand and returns the decremented value.

var a = 2;
console.log(--a); // 1

When -- is used after the operand, it is called post-decrement operation. Here the decrement expression decrements the operand and returns the undecremented value.

var a = 2;
console.log(a--); // 2

Associativity

Unary operators in JavaScript have right associativity.

var a = 6;
var b = 2;
b;
++a;
console.log(a); // 7
console.log(b); // 2

Above code applied ++ to a due to right associativity.