The eval() method in Java Script evaluates or executes its argument. If the argument is an expression, it evaluates the expression. If it’s one or more JavaScript statements, eval() executes the statements. This function was used to evaluate a string as JavaScript code, but it is now considered deprecated because it can introduce security vulnerabilities and is often unnecessary
eval() Function Parameters:
This function accepts a single parameter as mentioned below:
String: A string representing a JavaScript expression, statement, or sequence of statements. The expression can include variables and properties of existing objects
Return Value of eval() Function
The completion value of evaluating the given code is returned by using eval(). If the completion value is empty, undefined is returned
Direct eval: It’s called by the eval identifier directly
Indirect eval: It’s invoked via another property, such as window. eval() or when using set Timeout, set Interval, or the function constructor
DO NOT USE eval():
Security Risk: Evaluated code posses security vulnerabilities
Performance Impact: Slows down execution due to runtime parsing
Readability: Decreases code readability and maintainability
Strict Mode Compatibility: Not allowed in strict mode
Alternatives: Safer alternatives are available for dynamic code execution
Exceptions of eval() in JavaScript:
If we pass a non- string argument to eval in JavaScript, it returns the same argument without any change
let arr = [1, 2, 3]; let output = eval(arr); console.log(output);
Output: [1, 2, 3]
In the above example, we passed an array into the eval() function because it is non-string argument, the function returned the same array without any changes to it