A primitive (primitive value, primitive data type) is data that is not an object and has no methods. In JavaScript, there are 6 primitive data types: string, number, boolean, null, undefined, symbol (new in ECMAScript 2015).
Most of the time, a primitive value is represented directly at the lowest level of the language implementation.
All primitives are immutable (cannot be changed).
Primitive wrapper objects in JavaScript
Except for null and undefined, all primitive values have object equivalents that wrap around the primitive values:
- Stringfor the string primitive.
- Numberfor the number primitive.
- Booleanfor the Boolean primitive.
- Symbolfor the Symbol primitive.
The wrapper's valueOf() method returns the primitive value.
Learn more
General knowledge
- Introduction to JavaScript data types
- Primitive data type on Wikipedia