Difference between x++ and ++x

You probably must have learnt that x++ is the same as ++x. ++x happens prior to assignment (pre-increment), but x++happens after assignment (post-increment). x++ executes the statement and then increments the value. ++x increments the value and then executes the statement.

Case 1: x++

// If y = x++, the variable x will be incremented after assigning its value to y.

var x = 0;
var y = 0;
function postIncrement(){
    while(x < 3){
      y =  x++;
        console.log("y = " + y);
    }
      x++;
}
postIncrement();

Case 1 will yield the output below,

y = 0
y = 1
y = 2

Case 2: ++x

// If y = ++x, the variable x will be incremented before assigning its value to y.
var x = 0;
var y = 0;
function preIncrement(){
    while(x < 3){
      y =  ++x;
        console.log("y = " + y);
    }
      x++;
}
preIncrement();

Case 2 will yield the output below,

y = 1
y = 2
y = 3

Using simple example and the second way of variable declaration in JavaScript,

Case 1: x++

let x = 0;
console.log(x); //outputs 0
console.log(x++); //outputs 0

Case 2: ++x

let x = 0;
console.log(x); //outputs 0
console.log(++x); //outputs 1

Thank you for reading!

If you like my article, please hit this icon 👏 below as many times as possible, bookmark, share it with your friends and follow me for more stories. Feel free to ask questions. I welcome feedback.