no-undefined.md

Disallow Use of undefined Variable (no-undefined)

The undefined variable is unique in JavaScript because it is actually a property of the global object. As such, in ECMAScript 3 it was possible to overwrite the value of undefined. While ECMAScript 5 disallows overwriting undefined, it's still possible to shadow undefined, such as:

function doSomething(data) {
    var undefined = "hi";

    // doesn't do what you think it does
    if (data === undefined) {
        // ...
    }

}

This represents a problem for undefined that doesn't exist for null, which is a keyword and primitive value that can neither be overwritten nor shadowed.

All uninitialized variables automatically get the value of undefined:

var foo;

console.log(foo === undefined);     // true (assuming no shadowing)

For this reason, it's not necessary to explicitly initialize a variable to undefined.

Taking all of this into account, some style guides forbid the use of undefined, recommending instead:

• Variables that should be undefined are simply left uninitialized.
• Checking if a value is undefined should be done with typeof.
• Using the void operator to generate the value of undefined if necessary.

Rule Details

This rule aims to eliminate the use of undefined, and as such, generates a warning whenever it is used.

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

/*eslint no-undefined: "error"*/

var foo = undefined;

var undefined = "foo";

if (foo === undefined) {
    // ...
}

function foo(undefined) {
    // ...
}

Examples of correct code for this rule:

/*eslint no-undefined: "error"*/

var foo = void 0;

var Undefined = "foo";

if (typeof foo === "undefined") {
    // ...
}

global.undefined = "foo";

When Not To Use It

If you want to allow the use of undefined in your code, then you can safely turn this rule off.

Further Reading

• undefined - JavaScript | MDN
• Understanding JavaScript’s ‘undefined’ | JavaScript, JavaScript...
• ECMA262 edition 5.1 §15.1.1.3: undefined

Related Rules

• no-undef-init
• no-void