What is the JavaScript void(0)?

You've probably seen the JavaScript void(0) before. But, what is it? And, what does it do?

First, let's take a look at the history of void(0). JavaScript was created in 1995 by Netscape. And, in the early days of JavaScript, void(0) was used to indicate that a function didn't return a value.

Here's an example of how void(0) was used in the early days of JavaScript:

function square(x) {
    console.log(x * x);
    return;
}

square(3);

The code above would log 9 to the console. Because the function doesn't return a value, we use void(0) to indicate that.

However, in later versions of JavaScript, void(0) stopped being used to indicate that a function doesn't return a value. Instead, void(0) is now used to indicate that a function doesn't throw an error.

Here's an example of how void(0) is used in modern JavaScript:

function square(x) {
	console.log(x * x);
}

square(3);

The code above will log 9 to the console, just like the example from the early days of JavaScript.

Now that we know what void(0) is, let's take a look at some code samples.

Here's an example of how to use void(0) in a function:

function square(x) {
    if (x > 0) {
        console.log(x * x);
    }
}

square(3);

The code above will log 9 to the console. If x is greater than 0, then the function will log x * x. If x is not greater than 0, then the function will log void(0) to the console.

Here's another example of how to use void(0) in a function:

function square(x) {
    if (x > 0) {
    throw new Error("x must be greater than 0");
    }
}

square(3);

The code above will throw an error. If x is greater than 0, then the function will log x * x. If x is not greater than 0, then the function will throw a new Error.