Handling Big Numbers in JavaScript

For handling large numerical values in JavaScript, the standard solution involves using the built-in BigInt data type, which supports integer values larger than the maximum safe limit of Number (2^53-1).

Advantages of Using BigInt:

• Native to JavaScript, eliminating the need for external libraries.
• Fast and efficient compared to loading and parsing large numbers from a library.
• Secure and avoids security warnings associated with third-party libraries.

Example:

const bigInt1 = 1111111111111111111111111111111n;
const bigInt2 = BigInt("1111111111111111111111111111111");
console.log((bigInt1   bigInt2).toString()); // Output: "2222222222222222222222222222222"

Alternate Solutions:

Before the introduction of BigInt, alternate solutions included:

• External libraries: Loading a library such as BigInt.js or Decimal.js, which provided BigInteger objects for handling large numbers. However, this approach was slower and could introduce security concerns.
• Custom implementations: Developing your own BigInteger implementation based on open-source projects like javascript-biginteger or apfloat. While this offered more control, it required significant development effort.

Recommended Approach:

For modern JavaScript applications, using the built-in BigInt type is the recommended solution for handling big numbers. It is native, fast, secure, and requires minimal implementation effort.