Question

I’m writing a function that checks if arguments are zero, and it doesn’t seem to work correctly. Note: Using Chrome as my browser, but this code should be cross-browser supported.

// check all arguments, and make sure they aren't zero

function zeroCheck(arg1, arg2) {
    var i, argsLen = arguments.length;
    for (i = 0; i <= argsLen; i += 1) {
        if (arguments[i] === 0) {
            // This is where it doesn't behave as I expected
            arguments[i] = 1; // make arg1 = 1
        }
    }
    console.log(arg1); // arg1 = 0
}

zeroCheck(0, 2);

I was expecting arg1 to be equal to 1, but it is still equal to 0.

Answer 1

From the ECMA-262 spec:

“For non-strict mode functions the array index (defined in 15.4) named data properties of an arguments object whose numeric name values are less than the number of formal parameters of the corresponding function object initially share their values with the corresponding argument bindings in the function’s execution context. This means that changing the property changes the corresponding value of the argument binding and vice-versa. This correspondence is broken if such a property is deleted and then redefined or if the property is changed into an accessor property. For strict mode functions, the values of the arguments object‘s properties are simply a copy of the arguments passed to the function and there is no dynamic linkage between the property values and the formal parameter values.”

But if you read the technical details of how the arguments object is set I think you’ll find it is based on how many arguments are actually passed to the function when it is called, not how many named arguments are declared, so using arguments and a loop to check the value of each named parameter might not work if they’re not all passed in. Though in your case if you’re testing specifically for 0 it should work since parameters that are not passed will be undefined rather than 0.

Having said that, exactly how the arguments object actually behaves depends on the browser. Chrome doesn’t follow the spec.