Raye's Journey

This is a short article about JavaScript features. I plan to write articles on these small knowledge points whenever I have time.

In JavaScript, define a variable a such that:

a == 1 && a == 2 && a == 3 === true

Solution 1: Rewrite the valueOf method#

• Code Example:

let value = 0;
const a = {
    valueOf: function() {
        return ++value;
    }
};

console.assert(a==1 && a==2 && a==3, true);

• Principle:

  • When a is used in comparison operations (e.g., a == 1), the JavaScript engine calls a.valueOf() to get its primitive value.
  • We rewrite the valueOf method to return an incremented value each time it is called.

• Result:

  • First comparison: a.valueOf() returns 1, so a == 1.
  • Second comparison: a.valueOf() returns 2, so a == 2.
  • Third comparison: a.valueOf() returns 3, so a == 3.

Solution 2: Use a Proxy object#

• Code Example:

let value = 0;
const a = new Proxy({}, {
    get: function(target, name) {
        return ++value;
    }
});

console.assert(a.anyProperty == 1 && a.anyProperty == 2 && a.anyProperty == 3, true);

• Principle:

  • The Proxy object is used to create a proxy for an object, allowing us to intercept and customize fundamental operations, such as property access.
  • We intercept any property access on a and return an incremented value each time it is accessed.

• Result:

  • Similar to the valueOf method, each property access returns an incremented value.