javascript i++ vs ++i [duplicate]
In javascript I have seen i++
used in many cases, and I understand that it adds one to the preceding value:
for (var i=1; i<=10; i++) {
console.log(i);
}
But what happens when I do this:
++i;
And is it any different using the --
operator (besides of course that it's subtraction rather than addition)?
The difference between i++
and ++i
is the value of the expression.
The value i++
is the value of i
before the increment. The value of ++i
is the value of i
after the increment.
Example:
var i = 42;
alert(i++); // shows 42
alert(i); // shows 43
i = 42;
alert(++i); // shows 43
alert(i); // shows 43
The i--
and --i
operators works the same way.
++variable
increments the variable, returning the new value.
variable++
increments the variable, but returns the old value.
--variable
decrements the variable, returning the new value.
variable--
decrements the variable, but returns the old value.
For example:
a = 5;
b = 5;
c = ++a;
d = b++;
a
is 6, b
is 6, c
is 6 and d
is 5.
If you're not using the result, the prefix operators work equally to the postfix operators.