The delete operator is used to delete all the variables and objects used in the program,but it does not delete variables declared with var keyword.
In web development, particularly in JavaScript, the delete
operator is used to remove a property from an object. When applied to an array element, it can also remove the element itself, leaving an empty spot.
The correct answer to the question “What does the delete operator do?” would be:
“The delete
operator in JavaScript is used to remove a property from an object. When applied to an array element, it can remove the element itself, leaving an empty spot in the array. It returns true
if the deletion is successful, false
otherwise.”
Here’s an example:
let obj = { foo: 'bar', baz: 'qux' };
console.log(obj); // { foo: 'bar', baz: 'qux' }
delete obj.foo;
console.log(obj); // { baz: 'qux' }
let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4];
console.log(arr); // [1, 2, 3, 4]
delete arr[2];
console.log(arr); // [1, 2, <empty>, 4]
However, it’s important to note that the delete
operator doesn’t remove the element itself, it only removes the reference to it. The array length isn’t affected, and accessing the index will return undefined
.