Type coercion in JavaScript refers to the automatic or implicit conversion of one data type to another.
JavaScript performs type coercion when trying to make sense of different types being used together, in scenarios like adding a number to a string or using loose equality (==) for comparisons.
There are two types of coercion - Implicit Coercion, where JavaScript automatically converts types, and Explicit Coercion, where types are manually converted using functions like Number(), String(), and Boolean().
Understanding type coercion is essential to write cleaner code and avoid bugs, with best practices like using strict equality (===) over loose equality (==), converting values explicitly, handling falsy values carefully, and refraining from comparing complex types like arrays or objects directly.