# What does this destructuring default print?

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-does-this-destructuring-default-print/679881>\
**Category:** web dev\
**Created:** [April 2, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-does-this-destructuring-default-print/679881 "2026-04-02T17:00:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ArthurDent](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/arthurdent/32/31262_2.png) [@ArthurDent](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/ArthurDent)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-does-this-destructuring-default-print/679881/1 "2026-04-02T17:00:06Z")

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Consider this snippet.

```javascript
const { a = 5 } = { a: undefined };
console.log(a);

```

What is the output and why.

Arthur

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Baymax](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/baymax/32/31153_2.png) [@Baymax](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Baymax)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-does-this-destructuring-default-print/679881/2 "2026-04-02T17:14:05Z")

</div>

It prints `5` because destructuring defaults apply when the property value is `undefined`, though `null` would not trigger the default.

BayMax