JavaScript Objects

A post on objects and their methods in javascript

Post created on: 2/5/2021

Objects are a key part of JavaScript. In their most simple form, they are key-value pairs made up of properties/keys and values e.g.

let myTeam = {
  name: 'Liverpool',
  stadium: 'Anfield',
  city: 'Liverpool'
}

// In this object literal example the properties/keys are name, stadium and city with Liverpool, Anfield and Liverpool being the values

Adding and Accessing Properties

As with arrays properties can be added to an object using either dot (.) or bracket [] notation. Note if the property name has a space in it or you want to use a variable you will need to use bracket notation e.g.

myTeam.manager = 'Jurgen Klopp'
myTeam[founded] = 1892

myTeam['trophies won'] = { 'European Cups': 6, 'League Titles' : 19}

// myTeam now contains the following which shows as with arrays you can nest objects inside objects e.g.

myTeam = {
  name: 'Liverpool',
  stadium: 'Anfield',
  city: 'Liverpool',
  manager: 'Jurgen Klopp',
  founded: 1892,
  'trophies won': {
    'European Cups' : 6,
    'League Titles': 19
  }

myTeam['trophies won']['European Super Cups'] = 3

// ...
'trophies won' : {
  'European Cups' : 6,
  'League Titles' : 19,
  'European Super Cups' : 3
}

Access properties follow the same format e.g.

myTeam.manager // 'Jurgen Klopp'

myTeam['trophies won'] // { 'European Cups': 6, 'League Titles' : 19, 'European Super Cups' : 3 }

myTeam['trophies won']['European Super Cups'] // 3

Checking Properties

To check if an object has a specific property you can use

hasOwnProperty('propname') this method will return a boolean based on the outcome of this check against property e.g.

let myTeam {
  name: 'Liverpool',
  stadium: 'Anfield',
  city: 'Liverpool',
  manager: 'Jurgen Klopp'
}

myTeam.hasOwnProperty('manager') // returns true as this prop exists in the object
myTeam.hasOwnProperty('founded') // returns false as this prop does not exist in the object

for... in statement - this method can be used iterate over all the keys in an object e.g.

for(let val in myTeam){
  console.log(val)
}

// returns name, stadium, city, manager, trophies won

Object.values() - works in a similar way to for... in as it will provide the values in the same order, but it will return an array e.g.

Object.values(myTeam) 
// returns ['Liverpool', 'Anfield' 'Liverpool', 'Jurgen Klopp']

Object.keys() - This method will return an array of all the keys stored in an object which you pass in as a parameter e.g.

let teams = {
  Liverpool: {
    founded: 1892,
    manager: 'Jurgen Klopp'
  },
  Everton: {
    founded: 1888,
    manager: 'Carlo Ancelotti'
  },
  Southampton: {
    founded: 1885,
    manager: 'Ralph Hasenhuttl'
  }
}

Object.keys(teams) // ['Liverpool', 'Everton', 'Southampton']

Remove Properties

To remove properties from an object, use the delete keyword e.g.

let myTeam = {
  name: 'Liverpool',
  stadium: 'Anfield',
  city: 'Liverpool',
}

delete myTeam.city // myTeam: { name: 'Liverpool', stadium: 'Anfield' }

Prevent mutation

Object.freeze() - This method will prevent an object from being mutated in any way so you cannot add, remove or update any of the properties in the object. e.g.

Object.freeze(myTeam)

myTeam.fullName = 'Liverpool Football Club' 
// this will be ignored as the freeze prevents any mutation to the myTeam object

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