Javascript BigInit

JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in use today, and it’s widely used for building web applications, games, and other interactive experiences on the web. One of the fundamental data types in JavaScript is the BigInt type, which was introduced in the ECMAScript 2020 specification. BigInt allows developers to work with integers that are larger than the maximum safe integer value in JavaScript (2^53 – 1).

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into BigInt in JavaScript, including what it is, how to use it, and some common use cases.

What is BigInt?

In JavaScript, numbers are represented using the double-precision 64-bit binary format (IEEE 754). This format can represent integers up to a maximum value of 2^53 – 1. If you try to perform arithmetic operations on integers that are larger than this maximum value, you may encounter rounding errors or incorrect results.

The BigInt data type was introduced in ECMAScript 2020 to address this limitation. BigInts are a new primitive type in JavaScript that can represent integers of arbitrary length. BigInt values are created by appending the letter “n” to the end of an integer literal or by calling the BigInt() constructor function with an integer argument.

Here’s an example of creating a BigInt value:

const bigIntValue = 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n;

In this example, we’re creating a BigInt value that represents a very large integer.

Using BigInt

Once you’ve created a BigInt value, you can perform arithmetic operations on it just like you would with regular numbers. The following arithmetic operators are supported for BigInt values:

• Addition (+)
• Subtraction (-)
• Multiplication (*)
• Division (/)
• Modulus (%)

Here’s an example of using BigInt to perform some basic arithmetic operations:

const a = 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n;
const b = 9876543210987654321098765432109876543210n;

const sum = a + b;
const difference = b - a;
const product = a * b;
const quotient = b / a;
const remainder = b % a;

In this example, we’re creating two BigInt values, “a” and “b”, and then performing some basic arithmetic operations on them.

It’s worth noting that you can’t mix BigInt values with regular number values in arithmetic operations. If you try to do so, JavaScript will automatically convert the regular number value to a BigInt value. For example:

const a = 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890n;
const b = 123;

const sum = a + b;

In this example, we’re trying to add a BigInt value (“a”) and a regular number value (“b”). JavaScript will automatically convert “b” to a BigInt value, so the result of the addition will also be a BigInt value.

Common Use Cases

BigInts are most commonly used in situations where you need to perform arithmetic operations on very large integers. For example, BigInts are commonly used in cryptography algorithms, which often involve very large prime numbers.

Here’s an example of generating a random prime number using BigInt:

function isPrime(n) {
  if (n <= 1n) {
    return false;
  }

  for (let i = 2n; i <= Math.sqrt(n); i++) {
    if (n % i === 0n) {
      return false;
    }
  }

  return true;
}

function generateRandomPrime() {
  let p = 0n;

  while (!isPrime(p)) {
    p = BigInt(Math

Conclusion

BigInt in JavaScript provides a powerful tool for working with large integers that are beyond the range of standard Number values. While it is important to use BigInt values consistently and be aware of the potential performance costs, BigInt is an essential tool for applications that require the manipulation of arbitrarily large integers.