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BigInt

BigInt

Introduction

BigInt is a numeric primitive that can represent integers larger than 2^53 - 1 (the maximum safe integer for Number).

Why Do We Need This?

Financial calculations, large IDs, and cryptographic operations often need numbers beyond Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER (9,007,199,254,740,991).

Creating BigInt

// Using n suffix
const big1 = 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n;

// Using BigInt() function
const big2 = BigInt('1234567890123456789012345678901234567890');
const big3 = BigInt(42); // 42n

console.log(typeof big1); // 'bigint'

Operations

const a = 10n;
const b = 3n;

a + b;  // 13n
a - b;  // 7n
a * b;  // 30n
a ** b; // 1000n

// Division truncates towards zero
a / b;  // 3n (not 3.333...)

// Cannot mix with regular numbers
10n + 5;     // TypeError!
10n + BigInt(5); // 15n ✅
Number(10n) + 5; // 15 ✅

Comparison

10n === 10; // false (different types)
10n == 10;  // true (loose equality works)
10n > 5;    // true
10n < 20;   // true

Summary

n suffix creates BigInt literals
Represents arbitrarily large integers
Cannot mix with regular Number in operations
Use BigInt() for conversion
Perfect for large IDs, financial calculations

Further Reading

MDN: BigInt