Is utilizing the no-null operator in Angular/Typescript considered a best or worst practice?

Question

Is utilizing the no-null operator in Angular/Typescript considered a best or worst practice?

Today, I discovered a handy trick in Angular where I can use the non-null operator to simplify validations in certain methods. For example:

public showAlertHeader(account: Account): boolean {
    return account!.brownfieldState === this.PENDING || !(account!.address && account!.address!.id);
}

However, my tslint flagged an issue with this approach. Although I could configure it to not raise a complaint, it made me wonder whether using the non-null operator is actually a good or bad practice...

angular typescript

Answer 1

Answer №1

In today's coding environment, it is considered better practice to utilize the optional chaining operator. Let me illustrate with a simple example:

function checkAdminStatus(user: { admin: boolean } | undefined): boolean {
    return user?.admin === true;
}

function checkAdminStatus2(user: { admin: boolean } | undefined): boolean {
    return user!.admin === true;
}

console.log(checkAdminStatus({admin: false})); // false
console.log(checkAdminStatus({admin: true})); // true
console.log(checkAdminStatus(undefined)); // false

console.log(checkAdminStatus2({admin: false})); // false
console.log(checkAdminStatus2({admin: true})); // true
console.log(checkAdminStatus2(undefined)); // Runtime Error!

Answer 2

In today's coding environment, it is considered better practice to utilize the optional chaining operator. Let me illustrate with a simple example:

function checkAdminStatus(user: { admin: boolean } | undefined): boolean {
    return user?.admin === true;
}

function checkAdminStatus2(user: { admin: boolean } | undefined): boolean {
    return user!.admin === true;
}

console.log(checkAdminStatus({admin: false})); // false
console.log(checkAdminStatus({admin: true})); // true
console.log(checkAdminStatus(undefined)); // false

console.log(checkAdminStatus2({admin: false})); // false
console.log(checkAdminStatus2({admin: true})); // true
console.log(checkAdminStatus2(undefined)); // Runtime Error!

Is utilizing the no-null operator in Angular/Typescript considered a best or worst practice?

Answer №1

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