Check if String is a Positive Integer in JavaScript

Check if String is a Positive Integer #

To check if a string is a positive integer:

1. Convert the string to a number and pass it to the Number.isInteger() method. The method returns true if the provided value is an integer and false otherwise.
2. Check if the number is greater than 0.
3. If both conditions are met, then the string is a valid positive integer.

Copied!
function isPositiveInteger(str) {
  if (typeof str !== 'string') {
    return false;
  }

  const num = Number(str);

  if (Number.isInteger(num) && num > 0) {
    return true;
  }

  return false;
}

console.log(isPositiveInteger('0')); // 👉️ false
console.log(isPositiveInteger('1')); // true
console.log(isPositiveInteger('-1')); // 👉️ false
console.log(isPositiveInteger('1.5')); // 👉️ false
console.log(isPositiveInteger('test')); // false
console.log(isPositiveInteger('')); // 👉️ false
console.log(isPositiveInteger('   ')); // 👉️ false

We first check if the passed in value isn't a string. In this case we return false straight away, because the function only handles strings.

We convert the string to a number and store the value into a variable.

Here are some examples of converting a string to a number.

Copied!
console.log(Number('1')); // 👉️ 1
console.log(Number('1.5')); // 👉️ 1.5
console.log(Number('')); // 👉️ 0
console.log(Number('       ')); // 👉️ 0
console.log(Number('hello')); // 👉️ NaN

In short, if the string contains any non-numeric characters (not 0-9), we get NaN (not a number) back.

If it's an empty string or contains spaces, we get 0 back.

The first condition in our if statement checks if the value is a valid integer.

The Number.isInteger method returns true if the provided value is an integer and false otherwise.

Here are some examples of using the Number.isInteger method directly.

Copied!
console.log(Number.isInteger(1)); // 👉️ true
console.log(Number.isInteger(1.5)); // 👉️ false
console.log(Number.isInteger('1')); // 👉️ false
console.log(Number.isInteger(-1)); // 👉️ true

We use the logical AND (&&) operator to chain another condition. For our if block to run both conditions have to be true.

In our second condition, we check if the number is greater than 0.

However, there is a caveat with the Number.isInteger method. The method returns true if the passed in value:

• is an integer
• is a float, that can be represented as an integer

Here are examples of floats that can be represented as integers:

Copied!
// 👇️ true
console.log(Number.isInteger(10.0));

// 👇️ true
console.log(Number.isInteger(10.000000000000000123));

It depends on your use case, however most applications are ok with considering numbers such as 1.0 and 2.0 to be integers.

Further Reading #

• Check if String Doesn't include Substring in JavaScript
• Check if a Number is a Negative Integer in JavaScript