identify()

An upgraded version of: typeof in JavaScript, to better identify & separate similar results.

You can send in ANY THING to the identify() function and it returns an object with 2 properties: .type & .subType that lets you identify whatever it was you sent in. eg: identify([]).subType returns: "array" instead of "object" that typeof would return.

.type is the same as typeof in case you need a more general matching, but .subType tries to be as specific as posible, you usually want to use .subType.

All output strings will always be turned to lowercase, for consistency & ease of writing.

When/Why should I use this?

This is great when working with larger projects &/or global variables, where the variable you get into a function might not be what you expec it to be, because some other function have changed the value, or someone sends the wrong data to your function.
Eg: You get in: add("1", 2) & return "12" instead of 3.

Installation

npm i sn-identify

or:

npm install @sebbes/identify

(same files, use whichever you like best)

Usage examples:

let foo = identify( null );
console.log( foo.type    ); // "object"
console.log( foo.subType ); // "null"

if( foo.subType === "null" ) {
    foo = 5;
}

let bar = identify( 3.14 );
console.log( typeof bar  ); // "object"
console.log( bar.type    ); // "number"
console.log( bar.subType ); // "float"
/*
bar = {
    type: "number",
    subType: "float"
}
*/

let baz = new Date();
let qux = identify( baz );
/*
qux = {
    type: "object ",
    subType: "date"
}
*/

NOTE!

There is no (known?) way to differentiate a "integer like" float number, eg: 3.00 or 123.0000 from a "true integer" eg: 3 or 123, not even on a binarry level.
Therefore identify(3.00).subType will return "int" instead of "float".
All other things should return their correct values.

Feedback requests:

1. I am thinking of removing .type & only return .subType directly as a string, but I will wait to see what your feedback says about it.
2. If you find anything that doesn't return what you think it should, it would be very usefull if you could report it.