microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript

raise a type error on attempt to strict-equal-compare a value of string | null to undefined

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#14,764 8 comments 21 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Description

the following examples are almost certainly bugs:

declare var one: string | undefined;
// expected a type error: Operator '===' cannot be applied to types 'string | undefined' and 'null'
// actual no problem
if (one === null) { 
   // unreachable, because one can't ever be null, undefined was likely meant instead
}
declare var another: string | null;
// expected a type error: Operator '===' cannot be applied to types 'string | null' and 'undefined'
// actual no problem
if (another === undefined) {
   // unreachable, because one can't ever be undefined, null was likely meant instead
}

consider raising a type error for the above situations

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the two TypeScript examples in the issue and inspect the compiler's type-checking behavior for strict equality comparisons involving string unions and null or undefined. Done means both impossible comparisons produce type errors while valid comparisons remain accepted; the payload does not name a source file or test.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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