(Built-in) way in JavaScript to check if a string is a valid number

Question

I\'m hoping there\'s something in the same conceptual space as the old VB6 IsNumeric() function?

Answer 1

Why is jQuery's implementation not good enough?

function isNumeric(a) {
    var b = a && a.toString();
    return !$.isArray(a) && b - parseFloat(b) + 1 >= 0;
};

Michael suggested something like this (although I've stolen "user1691651 - John"'s altered version here):

function isNumeric(num){
    num = "" + num; //coerce num to be a string
    return !isNaN(num) && !isNaN(parseFloat(num));
}

The following is a solution with most likely bad performance, but solid results. It is a contraption made from the jQuery 1.12.4 implementation and Michael's answer, with an extra check for leading/trailing spaces (because Michael's version returns true for numerics with leading/trailing spaces):

function isNumeric(a) {
    var str = a + "";
    var b = a && a.toString();
    return !$.isArray(a) && b - parseFloat(b) + 1 >= 0 &&
           !/^\s+|\s+$/g.test(str) &&
           !isNaN(str) && !isNaN(parseFloat(str));
};

The latter version has two new variables, though. One could get around one of those, by doing:

function isNumeric(a) {
    if ($.isArray(a)) return false;
    var b = a && a.toString();
    a = a + "";
    return b - parseFloat(b) + 1 >= 0 &&
            !/^\s+|\s+$/g.test(a) &&
            !isNaN(a) && !isNaN(parseFloat(a));
};

I haven't tested any of these very much, by other means than manually testing the few use-cases I'll be hitting with my current predicament, which is all very standard stuff. This is a "standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants" situation.