The void operator evaluates the given expression and then returns undefined.

Syntax:

void expression

Returns:

• undefined

Description

The void operator is often used to obtain the undefined primitive value, by means of writing void 0 or void(0). Note that void is an operator, not a function, so () is not required.

Usually the result of a void expression and undefined can be used interchangeably.

However, in older versions of ECMAScript, window.undefined could be assigned any value, and it is still possible to use undefined as name for function parameters variables inside functions, thus disrupting other code that relies on the value of undefined.

void will always yield the true undefined value though.

void 0 is also commonly used in code minification as a shorter way of writing undefined. In addition, it’s probably safer as some other code could’ve tampered with window.undefined.

Examples:

Returning undefined:

function foo(){
    return void 0;
}
console.log(foo()); // undefined

Changing the value of undefined inside a certain scope:

(function(undefined){
    var str = 'foo';
    console.log(str === undefined); // true
})('foo');