How can I check if a javascript variable is functi

Question

Suppose I have any variable, which is defined as follows:

var a = function() {/* Statements */};

I want a function which checks if the type of the variable is function-like. i.e. :

function foo(v) {if (v is function type?) {/* do something */}};
foo(a);

How can I check if the variable 'a' is of type function in the way defined above?

Answer 1

Sure underscore's way is more efficient, but the best way to check, when efficiency isn't an issue, is written on underscore's page linked by @Paul Rosania.

Inspired by underscore, the final isFunction function is as follows:

function isFunction(functionToCheck) {
 return functionToCheck && {}.toString.call(functionToCheck) === '[object Function]';
}

Answer 2

@grandecomplex: There's a fair amount of verbosity to your solution. It would be much clearer if written like this:

function isFunction(x) {
  return Object.prototype.toString.call(x) == '[object Function]';
}

Answer 3

If you use Lodash you can do it with _.isFunction.

_.isFunction(function(){});
// => true

_.isFunction(/abc/);
// => false

_.isFunction(true);
// => false

_.isFunction(null);
// => false

This method returns true if value is a function, else false.

Answer 4

if (typeof v === "function") {
    // do something
}

Answer 5

Underscore.js uses a more elaborate but highly performant test:

_.isFunction = function(obj) {
  return !!(obj && obj.constructor && obj.call && obj.apply);
};

See: http://jsperf.com/alternative-isfunction-implementations

EDIT: updated tests suggest that typeof might be faster, see http://jsperf.com/alternative-isfunction-implementations/4

Answer 6

For those who's interested in functional style, or looks for more expressive approach to utilize in meta programming (such as type checking), it could be interesting to see Ramda library to accomplish such task.

Next code contains only pure and pointfree functions:

const R = require('ramda');

const isPrototypeEquals = R.pipe(Object.getPrototypeOf, R.equals);

const equalsSyncFunction = isPrototypeEquals(() => {});

const isSyncFunction = R.pipe(Object.getPrototypeOf, equalsSyncFunction);

As of ES2017, async functions are available, so we can check against them as well:

const equalsAsyncFunction = isPrototypeEquals(async () => {});

const isAsyncFunction = R.pipe(Object.getPrototypeOf, equalsAsyncFunction);

And then combine them together:

const isFunction = R.either(isSyncFunction, isAsyncFunction);

Of course, function should be protected against null and undefined values, so to make it "safe":

const safeIsFunction = R.unless(R.isNil, isFunction);

And, complete snippet to sum up:

const R = require('ramda');

const isPrototypeEquals = R.pipe(Object.getPrototypeOf, R.equals);

const equalsSyncFunction = isPrototypeEquals(() => {});
const equalsAsyncFunction = isPrototypeEquals(async () => {});

const isSyncFunction = R.pipe(Object.getPrototypeOf, equalsSyncFunction);
const isAsyncFunction = R.pipe(Object.getPrototypeOf, equalsAsyncFunction);

const isFunction = R.either(isSyncFunction, isAsyncFunction);

const safeIsFunction = R.unless(R.isNil, isFunction);

// ---

console.log(safeIsFunction( function () {} ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( () => {} ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( (async () => {}) ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( new class {} ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( {} ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( [] ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( 'a' ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( 1 ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( null ));
console.log(safeIsFunction( undefined ));

However, note the this solution could show less performance than other available options due to extensive usage of higher-order functions.