Solve - Cannot read property 'length' of Null in JS

Solve - Cannot read property 'length' of Null #

The "Cannot read property 'length' of null" error occurs when accessing the length property on a null value. To solve the error, make sure to only access the length property on data types that implement it - arrays and strings.

cannot read property length of null

Here's an example of how the error occurs.

index.js

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const arr = null;

// ⛔️ Cannot read properties of null (reading 'length')
arr.length;

To solve the error, provide a fallback for the value before accessing thelength property, or check if the value is of the correct type.

Here are some examples of how to solve the error when accessing the length property on arrays or strings.

index.js

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// 👇️👇️👇️ with ARRAYS
const fromDb = null;

// ✅ Provide empty array as fallback
const arr = fromDb || [];

// ✅ Using optional chaining
const ex1 = arr?.length;

// ✅ Provide `0` as fallback if `undefined`
const ex2 = arr?.length || 0;

// ✅ Use Array.isArray
if (Array.isArray(arr)) {
  const ex3 = arr.length;
} else {
  console.log('arr is not an array');
}

// ✅ Provide fallback in place
const ex4 = (arr || []).length;

And here are the same examples when using the length property on strings.

index.js

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// 👇️👇️👇️ with STRINGS
const fromDb = null;

// ✅ Provide empty string as fallback
const str = fromDb || '';

// ✅ Using optional chaining
const ex5 = str?.length;

// ✅ Provide `0` as fallback if `undefined`
const ex6 = str?.length || 0;

// ✅ Use typeof
if (typeof str === 'string') {
  const ex7 = str.length;
} else {
  console.log('str is not a string');
}

// ✅ Provide fallback in place
const ex8 = (str || '').length;

We used the logical OR (||) operator to provide a fallback value if the value to the left is falsy (e.g. null).

index.js

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const fromDb = null;

const arr = fromDb || [];
console.log(arr); // 👉️ []

const str = fromDb || '';
console.log(str); // 👉️ ""

If the value to the left is falsy, the logical OR (||) operator returns the value to the right.

The next example shows how to use the optional chaining (?.) operator to short-circuit if the reference is equal to null or undefined.

index.js

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const arr = null;

const ex1 = arr?.length;
console.log(ex1); // 👉️ undefined

const ex2 = arr?.length || 0;
console.log(ex2); // 👉️ 0

The optional chaining (?.) operator short-circuits instead of throwing an error if the reference is nullish (null or undefined).

You can also use the Array.isArray method to check if the value is an array or the typeof operator to check if the value is a string before accessing the length property.

index.js

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const fromDb = null;

const arr = fromDb || [];

if (Array.isArray(arr)) {
  const ex3 = arr.length;
} else {
  console.log('arr is not an array');
}

// ----------------------------

const str = fromDb || '';

if (typeof str === 'string') {
  const ex7 = str.length;
} else {
  console.log('str is not a string');
}

The last example shows how to provide a fallback value in place, right before accessing the length property.

index.js

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const arr = null;

const ex4 = (arr || []).length;
console.log(ex4); // 👉️ 0

You can also use the ternary operator, which is very similar to an if/else statement.

index.js

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const str = null;

const result = str ? str.length : 0;
console.log(result); // 👉️ 0

If the value to the left of the question mark is truthy, the operator returns the value to the left of the colon, otherwise the value to the right of the colon is returned.

Conclusion #

The "Cannot read property 'length' of null" error occurs when accessing the length property on a null value.

To solve the error, only access the length property on data types that support it - arrays or strings.

Solve - Cannot read property 'length' of Null in JS

Solve - Cannot read property 'length' of Null #

Conclusion #

Borislav Hadzhiev