consolelog

Console.log is a function in the JavaScript Console API used to print messages to the developer console. It is available in most web browsers and in Node.js. The primary purpose is debugging and status reporting during development. When called, console.log writes the provided arguments to the console; arguments are converted to strings and separated by spaces. Many environments also support printf-style formatting (for example, %s, %d, %i, %f). Objects and arrays are typically displayed in a readable form, sometimes expanded with additional lines or interactive inspection.

In browsers, the Console API is implemented by the browser and standardized to varying extents by the WHATWG Console API. Node.js implements a similar console object with largely compatible methods. Beyond console.log, common methods include console.info, console.warn, and console.error for different severity levels, as well as console.table for tabular data, console.dir for object inspection, and console.time / console.timeEnd for measuring durations. Additional features may include grouping, counting, and stack traces.

Use considerations: Logging can affect performance and reveal sensitive information, so logs should be minimized or removed in production and guarded behind feature flags or log levels. Logs appear in the browser's developer tools console or the process stdout in Node.js. Understanding the environment's behavior can help avoid surprises when formatting objects or handling large data.