The Undefined type has exactly one value, called undefined. Any variable that has not been assigned a value has the value undefined.

The Null type has exactly one value, called null.

The Boolean type represents a logical entity having two values, called true and false.

The String type is the set of all ordered sequences of zero or more 16-bit unsigned integer values (“elements”) up to a maximum length of 2⁵³-1 elements. The String type is generally used to represent textual data in a running ECMAScript program, in which case each element in the String is treated as a UTF-16 code unit value. Each element is regarded as occupying a position within the sequence. These positions are indexed with nonnegative integers. The first element (if any) is at index 0, the next element (if any) at index 1, and so on. The length of a String is the number of elements (i.e., 16-bit values) within it. The empty String has length zero and therefore contains no elements.

ECMAScript operations that do not interpret String contents apply no further semantics. Operations that do interpret String values treat each element as a single UTF-16 code unit. However, ECMAScript does not restrict the value of or relationships between these code units, so operations that further interpret String contents as sequences of Unicode code points encoded in UTF-16 must account for ill-formed subsequences. Such operations apply special treatment to every code unit with a numeric value in the inclusive range 0xD800 to 0xDBFF (defined by the Unicode Standard as a leading surrogate, or more formally as a high-surrogate code unit) and every code unit with a numeric value in the inclusive range 0xDC00 to 0xDFFF (defined as a trailing surrogate, or more formally as a low-surrogate code unit) using the following rules:

• A code unit that is not a leading surrogate and not a trailing surrogate is interpreted as a code point with the same value.
• A sequence of two code units, where the first code unit c1 is a leading surrogate and the second code unit c2 a trailing surrogate, is a surrogate pair and is interpreted as a code point with the value (c1 - 0xD800) × 0x400 + (c2 - 0xDC00) + 0x10000. (See 10.1.2)
• A code unit that is a leading surrogate or trailing surrogate, but is not part of a surrogate pair, is interpreted as a code point with the same value.

The function String.prototype.normalize (see 21.1.3.12) can be used to explicitly normalize a String value. String.prototype.localeCompare (see 21.1.3.10) internally normalizes String values, but no other operations implicitly normalize the strings upon which they operate. Only operations that are explicitly specified to be language or locale sensitive produce language-sensitive results.

In this specification, the phrase "the string-concatenation of A, B, ..." (where each argument is a String value, a code unit, or a sequence of code units) denotes the String value whose sequence of code units is the concatenation of the code units (in order) of each of the arguments (in order).

The Symbol type is the set of all non-String values that may be used as the key of an Object property (6.1.7).

Each possible Symbol value is unique and immutable.

Each Symbol value immutably holds an associated value called [[Description]] that is either undefined or a String value.

The Number type has exactly 18437736874454810627 (that is, 2⁶⁴-2⁵³+3) values, representing the double-precision 64-bit format IEEE 754-2008 values as specified in the IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic, except that the 9007199254740990 (that is, 2⁵³-2) distinct “Not-a-Number” values of the IEEE Standard are represented in ECMAScript as a single special NaN value. (Note that the NaN value is produced by the program expression NaN.) In some implementations, external code might be able to detect a difference between various Not-a-Number values, but such behaviour is implementation-dependent; to ECMAScript code, all NaN values are indistinguishable from each other.

There are two other special values, called positive Infinity and negative Infinity. For brevity, these values are also referred to for expository purposes by the symbols +∞ and -∞, respectively. (Note that these two infinite Number values are produced by the program expressions +Infinity (or simply Infinity) and -Infinity.)

The other 18437736874454810624 (that is, 2⁶⁴-2⁵³) values are called the finite numbers. Half of these are positive numbers and half are negative numbers; for every finite positive Number value there is a corresponding negative value having the same magnitude.

Note that there is both a positive zero and a negative zero. For brevity, these values are also referred to for expository purposes by the symbols +0 and -0, respectively. (Note that these two different zero Number values are produced by the program expressions +0 (or simply 0) and -0.)

The 18437736874454810622 (that is, 2⁶⁴-2⁵³-2) finite nonzero values are of two kinds:

18428729675200069632 (that is, 2⁶⁴-2⁵⁴) of them are normalized, having the form

where s is +1 or -1, m is a positive integer less than 2⁵³ but not less than 2⁵², and e is an integer ranging from -1074 to 971, inclusive.

The remaining 9007199254740990 (that is, 2⁵³-2) values are denormalized, having the form

where s is +1 or -1, m is a positive integer less than 2⁵², and e is -1074.

Note that all the positive and negative integers whose magnitude is no greater than 2⁵³ are representable in the Number type (indeed, the integer 0 has two representations, +0 and -0).

A finite number has an odd significand if it is nonzero and the integer m used to express it (in one of the two forms shown above) is odd. Otherwise, it has an even significand.

In this specification, the phrase “the Number value for x” where x represents an exact real mathematical quantity (which might even be an irrational number such as π) means a Number value chosen in the following manner. Consider the set of all finite values of the Number type, with -0 removed and with two additional values added to it that are not representable in the Number type, namely 2¹⁰²⁴ (which is +1 × 2⁵³ × 2⁹⁷¹) and -2¹⁰²⁴ (which is -1 × 2⁵³ × 2⁹⁷¹). Choose the member of this set that is closest in value to x. If two values of the set are equally close, then the one with an even significand is chosen; for this purpose, the two extra values 2¹⁰²⁴ and -2¹⁰²⁴ are considered to have even significands. Finally, if 2¹⁰²⁴ was chosen, replace it with +∞; if -2¹⁰²⁴ was chosen, replace it with -∞; if +0 was chosen, replace it with -0 if and only if x is less than zero; any other chosen value is used unchanged. The result is the Number value for x. (This procedure corresponds exactly to the behaviour of the IEEE 754-2008 “round to nearest, ties to even” mode.)

Some ECMAScript operators deal only with integers in specific ranges such as -2³¹ through 2³¹-1, inclusive, or in the range 0 through 2¹⁶-1, inclusive. These operators accept any value of the Number type but first convert each such value to an integer value in the expected range. See the descriptions of the numeric conversion operations in 7.1.

An Object is logically a collection of properties. Each property is either a data property, or an accessor property:

• A data property associates a key value with an ECMAScript language value and a set of Boolean attributes.
• An accessor property associates a key value with one or two accessor functions, and a set of Boolean attributes. The accessor functions are used to store or retrieve an ECMAScript language value that is associated with the property.

Properties are identified using key values. A property key value is either an ECMAScript String value or a Symbol value. All String and Symbol values, including the empty string, are valid as property keys. A property name is a property key that is a String value.

An integer index is a String-valued property key that is a canonical numeric String (see 7.1.16) and whose numeric value is either +0 or a positive integer ≤ 2⁵³-1. An array index is an integer index whose numeric value i is in the range +0 ≤ i < 2³²-1.

Property keys are used to access properties and their values. There are two kinds of access for properties: get and set, corresponding to value retrieval and assignment, respectively. The properties accessible via get and set access includes both own properties that are a direct part of an object and inherited properties which are provided by another associated object via a property inheritance relationship. Inherited properties may be either own or inherited properties of the associated object. Each own property of an object must each have a key value that is distinct from the key values of the other own properties of that object.

All objects are logically collections of properties, but there are multiple forms of objects that differ in their semantics for accessing and manipulating their properties. Ordinary objects are the most common form of objects and have the default object semantics. An exotic object is any form of object whose property semantics differ in any way from the default semantics.

The List type is used to explain the evaluation of argument lists (see 12.3.6) in new expressions, in function calls, and in other algorithms where a simple ordered list of values is needed. Values of the List type are simply ordered sequences of list elements containing the individual values. These sequences may be of any length. The elements of a list may be randomly accessed using 0-origin indices. For notational convenience an array-like syntax can be used to access List elements. For example, arguments[2] is shorthand for saying the 3^rd element of the List arguments.

For notational convenience within this specification, a literal syntax can be used to express a new List value. For example, « 1, 2 » defines a List value that has two elements each of which is initialized to a specific value. A new empty List can be expressed as « ».

The Record type is used to describe data aggregations within the algorithms of this specification. A Record type value consists of one or more named fields. The value of each field is either an ECMAScript value or an abstract value represented by a name associated with the Record type. Field names are always enclosed in double brackets, for example [[Value]].

For notational convenience within this specification, an object literal-like syntax can be used to express a Record value. For example, { [[Field1]]: 42, [[Field2]]: false, [[Field3]]: empty } defines a Record value that has three fields, each of which is initialized to a specific value. Field name order is not significant. Any fields that are not explicitly listed are considered to be absent.

In specification text and algorithms, dot notation may be used to refer to a specific field of a Record value. For example, if R is the record shown in the previous paragraph then R.[[Field2]] is shorthand for “the field of R named [[Field2]]”.

Schema for commonly used Record field combinations may be named, and that name may be used as a prefix to a literal Record value to identify the specific kind of aggregations that is being described. For example: PropertyDescriptor { [[Value]]: 42, [[Writable]]: false, [[Configurable]]: true }.

The Set type is used to explain a collection of unordered elements for use in the memory model. Values of the Set type are simple collections of elements, where no element appears more than once. Elements may be added to and removed from Sets. Sets may be unioned, intersected, or subtracted from each other.

The Relation type is used to explain constraints on Sets. Values of the Relation type are Sets of ordered pairs of values from its value domain. For example, a Relation on events is a set of ordered pairs of events. For a Relation R and two values a and b in the value domain of R, a R b is shorthand for saying the ordered pair (a, b) is a member of R. A Relation is least with respect to some conditions when it is the smallest Relation that satisfies those conditions.

A strict partial order is a Relation value R that satisfies the following.

• For all a, b, and c in R's domain:

  • It is not the case that a R a, and
  • If a R b and b R c, then a R c.

A strict total order is a Relation value R that satisfies the following.

• For all a, b, and c in R's domain:

  • a is identical to b or a R b or b R a, and
  • It is not the case that a R a, and
  • If a R b and b R c, then a R c.

The Completion type is a Record used to explain the runtime propagation of values and control flow such as the behaviour of statements (break, continue, return and throw) that perform nonlocal transfers of control.

Values of the Completion type are Record values whose fields are defined as by Table 8. Such values are referred to as Completion Records.

The term “abrupt completion” refers to any completion with a [[Type]] value other than normal.

A Reference is a resolved name or property binding. A Reference consists of three components, the base value component, the referenced name component, and the Boolean-valued strict reference flag. The base value component is either undefined, an Object, a Boolean, a String, a Symbol, a Number, or an Environment Record. A base value component of undefined indicates that the Reference could not be resolved to a binding. The referenced name component is a String or Symbol value.

A Super Reference is a Reference that is used to represent a name binding that was expressed using the super keyword. A Super Reference has an additional thisValue component, and its base value component will never be an Environment Record.

The following abstract operations are used in this specification to operate on references:

The Property Descriptor type is used to explain the manipulation and reification of Object property attributes. Values of the Property Descriptor type are Records. Each field's name is an attribute name and its value is a corresponding attribute value as specified in 6.1.7.1. In addition, any field may be present or absent. The schema name used within this specification to tag literal descriptions of Property Descriptor records is “PropertyDescriptor”.

Property Descriptor values may be further classified as data Property Descriptors and accessor Property Descriptors based upon the existence or use of certain fields. A data Property Descriptor is one that includes any fields named either [[Value]] or [[Writable]]. An accessor Property Descriptor is one that includes any fields named either [[Get]] or [[Set]]. Any Property Descriptor may have fields named [[Enumerable]] and [[Configurable]]. A Property Descriptor value may not be both a data Property Descriptor and an accessor Property Descriptor; however, it may be neither. A generic Property Descriptor is a Property Descriptor value that is neither a data Property Descriptor nor an accessor Property Descriptor. A fully populated Property Descriptor is one that is either an accessor Property Descriptor or a data Property Descriptor and that has all of the fields that correspond to the property attributes defined in either Table 2 or Table 3.

The following abstract operations are used in this specification to operate upon Property Descriptor values:

The Lexical Environment and Environment Record types are used to explain the behaviour of name resolution in nested functions and blocks. These types and the operations upon them are defined in 8.1.

The Data Block specification type is used to describe a distinct and mutable sequence of byte-sized (8 bit) numeric values. A Data Block value is created with a fixed number of bytes that each have the initial value 0.

For notational convenience within this specification, an array-like syntax can be used to access the individual bytes of a Data Block value. This notation presents a Data Block value as a 0-origined integer-indexed sequence of bytes. For example, if db is a 5 byte Data Block value then db[2] can be used to access its 3^rd byte.

A data block that resides in memory that can be referenced from multiple agents concurrently is designated a Shared Data Block. A Shared Data Block has an identity (for the purposes of equality testing Shared Data Block values) that is address-free: it is tied not to the virtual addresses the block is mapped to in any process, but to the set of locations in memory that the block represents. Two data blocks are equal only if the sets of the locations they contain are equal; otherwise, they are not equal and the intersection of the sets of locations they contain is empty. Finally, Shared Data Blocks can be distinguished from Data Blocks.

The semantics of Shared Data Blocks is defined using Shared Data Block events by the memory model. Abstract operations below introduce Shared Data Block events and act as the interface between evaluation semantics and the event semantics of the memory model. The events form a candidate execution, on which the memory model acts as a filter. Please consult the memory model for full semantics.

Shared Data Block events are modeled by Records, defined in the memory model.

The following abstract operations are used in this specification to operate upon Data Block values: