globalThis

globalThis is the standardized name for the global object in JavaScript. It was introduced in ECMAScript 2020 to provide a single, environment-agnostic reference to the global scope across different execution environments, including browsers, Node.js, and web workers. In a browser, globalThis refers to the window object; in Node.js it refers to the global object; in web workers it refers to self. Accessing globalThis yields the same object regardless of where the code runs, enabling code that needs to reach global properties without environment checks.

You can read from or assign to global properties via globalThis, for example: globalThis.myGlobal = 42; console.log(globalThis.myGlobal); This makes it convenient to expose values to the entire global scope in a consistent way. It is also useful for libraries that need to attach hooks or polyfills in a way that works in multiple environments.

Historically, code often checked for window, global, or self to access the global object, which led to redundant or fragile patterns. globalThis unifies these patterns by providing a single intrinsic. It is not a constructor, but a reference to the global object. Some older environments may lack native support and require a polyfill or transpilation to simulate globalThis.