What is the meaning of | in Javascript

Question

What does | do in Javascript? Is it similar to the logical or operator ||? I have seen it being used to apparently convert strings to numbers. How does this work?

var x = '12345';
var num = x|0;
console.log(num);

It's a bitwise OR. `|0` can truncate floating point numbers. — VLAZ, Sep 22 '18 at 17:57

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 01 '19 at 23:57

2

It's a bitwise OR |. Sometimes misused (64 bit float vs 32 bit integer) for getting integer values.

var x = '12345.678',
    num = x | 0;

console.log(num);

edited Apr 01 '19 at 23:57

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answered Sep 22 '18 at 17:57

Nina Scholz

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How does this operator convert Strings to numbers? – Zamboni Sep 22 '18 at 18:00
1

by using a numerical operator, javascript tries to convert the operands to number. – Nina Scholz Sep 22 '18 at 18:01
@Zamboni takes the string, performs bitwise arithmetic on the value of it and it always returns a number. – VLAZ Sep 22 '18 at 18:01
@NinaScholz Thank you! – Zamboni Sep 22 '18 at 18:20

What is the meaning of | in Javascript

1 Answers1