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JavaScript Brain Teasers: Exercise Your Mind

Discussion: The Mathemagician

Understand how JavaScript manages numerical precision and the limitations of the Number type with large values. Learn to use BigInt for precise arithmetic with integers exceeding standard safe limits. Explore the differences between Number and BigInt, as well as best practices for handling mixed-type operations and avoiding common pitfalls.

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Verifying the output

Now, it's time to execute the code and observe the output.

Javascript (babel-node-es2024)
const largeNumber = Math.pow(10, 16);
const smallNumber = 1;
console.log(largeNumber + smallNumber);

Understanding the output

In JavaScript, the Math.pow() function can be used to raise a number to a specified power. In this case, the code Math.pow(10, 16) calculates the result of raising the number 10 to the power of 16, resulting in 10000000000000000. But why does the sum of 10000000000000000 and 1 equal 10000000000000000?

JavaScript number’s precision

JavaScript does have some limitations when it comes to representing very large numbers accurately. The limitation is due to the way numbers are stored and the precision of the data type used in JavaScript. The Number type has a specific range where it works best. It can handle integers between -9007199254740991 and 9007199254740991 perfectly without losing any precision.

But if we happen to use an integer outside of this range, there’s a chance that it won’t be represented accurately. This issue is known as loss of precision when dealing with large numbers in JavaScript.

Example

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