Understanding void(0): How to Supplement Yourself on JavaScript and What It Is Used for.
You’d be surprised what JavaScript is full of, and one of the more weird ones people often encounter is void(0). If you’ve ever come across this phrase while navigating through code and wanting to know what it means or why it stands it, you’re not alone. In this article, I will explain what void(0) means, why it has become such a sought after tool, and how it is used.
What Does void(0) Mean?
void(0) is at its core a mean in JavaScript to run an expression and not return any value. As far as void(0) goes, running that basically forces anything after the void to return undefined. So no matter what action takes place in the brackets (within the parentheses), the result will not be used for any further work.
This may seem an odd thing to do: after all, isn’t the whole reason to write this code to obtain some result? However, surprisingly enough, there are plenty of cases where I’d like to purposely disregard a return value, for which purpose void(0) exists. But it’s also saying, “I’m doing something, but I don’t need any feedback on this action at all.”
void itself can take any number or variable, but void(0) is the most used when it can be used with anything because it’s just shorthand to ensure nothing important happens after, for example, an action.
What’s So Common About Commonly Using void(0) in Links?
If you find void(0) frequently, it’s actually inside hyperlinks (and parameters). There’s a good chance void(0) was involved if you’ve ever clicked a link and nothing seemed to happen on the page. So why would developers want a link that isn’t actually a link?
Hyperlinks are often used as the action of, for example, triggering JavaScript functions or enabling interactive elements within a page. But in general most of us click a link and it behaves in a default way which is to go to another page or reload the same page. With void(0), developers can still trigger the link to act (for example, open a pop up or submit a form), while disabling the default behavior.
Void (0) rather is in essence a way of making sure the link does not want to navigate anywhere. In particular, this is helpful in instances when you will link to something as a button, without confusing the browser into thinking it must reload or relocate a page.
What does void(0) Do for User Interaction?
From a user’s perspective, void(0) serves a very specific purpose: Preventing users from taking control of interactions on a webpage. Think of a webpage which allows you to make clicks on some links that will display popups, animations or change dynamically the content of the page without loading it. This is possible because void(0) blocks the browser’s standard link behavior, allowing custom JavaScript to override.
Imagine you have a link on a webpage, such as “More Information”, and when clicked, a small pop up box opens. Then, without void(0), the browser may try to open the link and redirect to another page, spoiling the user experience. But where we want to go with void(0) is the pop up without any more navigation and it leaves the user to stay on this current page.
However, from a developers point of view, creating interactive websites the way this is done in this approach is a lot more flexible. It also allows users to not get frustrated when you reload the page with unnecessary reloads or act unpredictably by clicking on something.
When Should You Not Use void(0)?
void(0) is a helpful little object but there’s no place for careless use. Void(0) one of the main criticisms is because if you overuse or misuse it then it can lead to bad programming practices. For example, it can cause confusion in your codebase because it does not make it easy for someone (including you later on) to tell what a specific link or bit of code is supposed to do.
In addition, there are modern alternatives to void(0) that many developers like to use. For instance, it’s usually believed that using buttons as opposed to links for resulting from doing something without the need for navigating is a preferable approach. This allows the button to be clear as to what the action is (opening a form perhaps, or calling a function) without hijacking link behaviour.
PreventDefault() is another possible alternative, usually added to event listeners in combination with. This method will prevent the default linked behaviour of the browser, and doesn’t require us to use void(0) directly. It’s a more intuitive, easier to manage approach in the long term.
Conclusion: The Subtle Power of void(0)
From the microscopic standpoint, void(0) doesn’t seem like a big deal and is, in fact, just a tad trivial, but this one is crucial in enabling websites to be more interactive and responsive. Prevent users from executing default browser actions to enable smooth user experience and more browser control of the site user interaction. void(0) has an important role to play in modern web development, whether it’s used to stop a link from navigating, or to trigger JavaScript functions, or to manage other interactive elements.
With that out of the way, developers should also use it with caution and make sure it’s the right tool for the job. In a multitude of cases, cleaner and easier to maintain alternatives, such as buttons or event listeners, are possible. However, in spite of that, void(0) continues to remain a tool that is useful to the web developer in their toolkit, an elegant way to fire off code behind the scenes.
So although you’ll probably never see void(0) on a daily basis, knowing what it’s good for and how to use it will make you a more knowing and capable developer.
