What is has-symbols?
The has-symbols npm package is used to determine if the JavaScript environment has native support for ES6/ES2015 symbols. Symbols are a new primitive type introduced in ES6 that enable the creation of unique identifiers for object properties. The has-symbols package provides a simple way to check for symbol support, which is useful for library authors who want to create code that is compatible with both modern and older environments.
What are has-symbols's main functionalities?
Check for native Symbol support
This feature allows you to check if the current JavaScript environment supports ES6 symbols natively. The function `hasSymbols()` returns a boolean indicating the presence of native symbol support.
var hasSymbols = require('has-symbols');
if (hasSymbols()) {
console.log('Environment has native Symbol support');
} else {
console.log('Environment does not have native Symbol support');
}
Check for well-known symbols
This feature allows you to check for the presence of specific well-known symbols like `Symbol.hasInstance`, `Symbol.iterator`, etc. The function `hasSymbols(shim)` takes a string argument representing the well-known symbol and returns a boolean indicating its presence.
var hasSymbols = require('has-symbols');
if (hasSymbols('hasInstance')) {
console.log('Environment has Symbol.hasInstance');
} else {
console.log('Environment does not have Symbol.hasInstance');
}
Other packages similar to has-symbols
es-abstract
The es-abstract package provides utility functions for ECMAScript language abstract operations. It includes checks for symbol support similar to has-symbols but goes beyond that by offering a wide range of ECMAScript compliance-related utilities.
is-symbol
The is-symbol package is used to check if a value is an ES6 Symbol or not. While has-symbols checks for the existence of Symbol support in the environment, is-symbol is used to verify if a given value is of the Symbol type.