JavaScript Object Definitions
Methods for Defining JavaScript Objects
- Using an Object Literal
- Using the
newKeyword - Using an Object Constructor
- Using
Object.assign() - Using
Object.create() - Using
Object.fromEntries()
Using an Object Literal
An object literal is a list of property key:values inside curly braces { }.
{firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe", age:50, eyeColor:"blue"};
Example
// Create an Object
const person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName: "Doe",
age: 50,
eyeColor: "blue"
};
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Using the new Keyword
Example
// Create an Object
const person = new Object({
firstName: "John",
lastName: "Doe",
age: 50,
eyeColor: "blue"
});
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The examples above do exactly the same.
But, there is no need to use new Object().
For readability, simplicity and execution speed, use the object literal method.
Objects written as name value pairs are similar to:
- Associative arrays in PHP
- Dictionaries in Python
- Hash tables in C
- Hash maps in Java
- Hashes in Ruby and Perl
JavaScript Object.create()
The Object.create() method creates an object from an existing object.
Example
// Create an Object:
const person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName: "Doe"
};
// Create new Object
const man = Object.create(person);
man.firstName = "Peter";
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JavaScript Object fromEntries()
ES2019 added the Object method fromEntries() to JavaScript.
The fromEntries() method creates an object from iterable key / value pairs.
Example
const fruits = [
["apples", 300],
["pears", 900],
["bananas", 500]
];
const myObj = Object.fromEntries(fruits);
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Browser Support
fromEntries() is an ECMAScript 2019 feature.
ES2019 is supported in all modern browsers since January 2020:
| Chrome 66 |
Edge 79 |
Firefox 61 |
Safari 12 |
Opera 50 |
| Apr 2018 | Jan 2020 | Jun 2018 | Sep 2018 | May 2018 |
JavaScript Object.assign()
The Object.assign() method copies properties from
one or more source objects to a target object.
Example
// Create Target Object
const person1 = {
firstName: "John",
lastName: "Doe",
age: 50,
eyeColor: "blue"
};
// Create Source Object
const person2 = {firstName: "Anne",lastName: "Smith"};
// Assign Source to Target
Object.assign(person1, person2);
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In JavaScript, Objects are King.
If you Understand Objects, you Understand JavaScript.
In JavaScript, almost "everything" is an object.
- Objects are objects
- Maths are objects
- Functions are objects
- Dates are objects
- Arrays are objects
- Maps are objects
- Sets are objects
All JavaScript values, except primitives, are objects.
JavaScript Primitives
A primitive data type is data type that can only store a single primitive value.
JavaScript defines 7 types of primitive data types:
| Type | Example value |
|---|---|
string | "Hello" |
number | 3.14 |
boolean | true |
bigint | 12345678901234 |
null | null |
undefined | undefined |
symbol | symbol |
Immutable
Primitive values are immutable (they are hardcoded and cannot be changed).
if x = 3.14, you can change the value of x, but you cannot change the value of 3.14.
| Value | Type | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| "Hello" | string | "Hello" is always "Hello" |
| 3.14 | number | 3.14 is always 3.14 |
| true | boolean | true is always true |
| false | boolean | false is always false |
| null | null | null is always null |
| undefined | undefined | undefined is always undefined |
JavaScript Objects are Mutable
Objects are mutable: They are addressed by reference, not by value.
If person is an object, the following statement will not create a copy of person:
const x = person;
The object x is not a copy of person. The object x is person.
The object x and the object person share the same memory address.
Any changes to x will also change person:
Example
//Create an Object
const person = {
firstName:"John",
lastName:"Doe",
age:50, eyeColor:"blue"
}
// Try to create a copy
const x = person;
// This will change age in person:
x.age = 10;
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