JavaScript Objects

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In JavaScript, objects are king. If you understand objects, you understand JavaScript.

In JavaScript, almost "everything" is an object.

Booleans can be objects (if defined with the new keyword)
Numbers can be objects (if defined with the new keyword)
Strings can be objects (if defined with the new keyword)
Dates are always objects
Maths are always objects
Regular expressions are always objects
Arrays are always objects
Functions are always objects
Objects are always objects

All JavaScript values, except primitives, are objects.

JavaScript Primitives

A primitive value is a value that has no properties or methods.

A primitive data type is data that has a primitive value.

JavaScript defines 5 types of primitive data types:

string
number
boolean
null
undefined

Primitive values are immutable (they are hardcoded and therefore 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 (object)	null is always null
undefined	undefined	undefined is always undefined

Objects are Variables Containing Variables

JavaScript variables can contain single values:

Example

var person = "John Doe";

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Objects are variables too. But objects can contain many values.

The values are written as name : value pairs (name and value separated by a colon).

Example

var person = {firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe", age:50, eyeColor:"blue"};

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A JavaScript object is a collection of named values

Object Properties

The named values, in JavaScript objects, are called properties.

Property	Value
firstName	John
lastName	Doe
age	50
eyeColor	blue

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

Object Methods

Methods are actions that can be performed on objects.

Object properties can be both primitive values, other objects, and functions.

An object method is an object property containing a function definition.

Property	Value
firstName	John
lastName	Doe
age	50
eyeColor	blue
fullName	function() {return this.firstName + " " + this.lastName;}

JavaScript objects are containers for named values, called properties and methods.

You will learn more about methods in the next chapters.

Creating a JavaScript Object

With JavaScript, you can define and create your own objects.

There are different ways to create new objects:

Define and create a single object, using an object literal.
Define and create a single object, with the keyword new.
Define an object constructor, and then create objects of the constructed type.

In ECMAScript 5, an object can also be created with the function Object.create().

Using an Object Literal

This is the easiest way to create a JavaScript Object.

Using an object literal, you both define and create an object in one statement.

An object literal is a list of name:value pairs (like age:50) inside curly braces {}.

The following example creates a new JavaScript object with four properties:

Example

var person = {firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe", age:50, eyeColor:"blue"};

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Spaces and line breaks are not important. An object definition can span multiple lines:

Example

var person = {
    firstName:"John",
    lastName:"Doe",
    age:50,
    eyeColor:"blue"
};

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Using the JavaScript Keyword new

The following example also creates a new JavaScript object with four properties:

Example

var person = new Object();
person.firstName = "John";
person.lastName = "Doe";
person.age = 50;
person.eyeColor = "blue";

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The two examples above do exactly the same. There is no need to use new Object().
For simplicity, readability and execution speed, use the first one (the object literal method).

Using an Object Constructor

The examples above are limited in many situations. They only create a single object.

Sometimes we like to have an "object type" that can be used to create many objects of one type.

The standard way to create an "object type" is to use an object constructor function:

Example

function person(first, last, age, eye) {
    this.firstName = first;
    this.lastName = last;
    this.age = age;
    this.eyeColor = eye;
}
var myFather = new person("John", "Doe", 50, "blue");
var myMother = new person("Sally", "Rally", 48, "green");

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The above function (person) is an object constructor.

Once you have an object constructor, you can create new objects of the same type:

var myFather = new person("John", "Doe", 50, "blue");
var myMother = new person("Sally", "Rally", 48, "green");

The this Keyword

In JavaScript, the thing called this, is the object that "owns" the JavaScript code.

The value of this, when used in a function, is the object that "owns" the function.

The value of this, when used in an object, is the object itself.

The this keyword in an object constructor does not have a value. It is only a substitute for the new object.

The value of this will become the new object when the constructor is used to create an object.

Note that this is not a variable. It is a keyword. You cannot change the value of this.

Built-in JavaScript Constructors

JavaScript has built-in constructors for native objects:

Example

var x1 = new Object();    // A new Object object
var x2 = new String();    // A new String object
var x3 = new Number();    // A new Number object
var x4 = new Boolean();   // A new Boolean object
var x5 = new Array();     // A new Array object
var x6 = new RegExp();    // A new RegExp object
var x7 = new Function(); // A new Function object
var x8 = new Date();      // A new Date object

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The Math() object is not in the list. Math is a global object. The new keyword cannot be used on Math.

Did You Know?

As you can see, JavaScript has object versions of the primitive data types String, Number, and Boolean.

There is no reason to create complex objects. Primitive values execute much faster.

And there is no reason to use new Array(). Use array literals instead: []

And there is no reason to use new RegExp(). Use pattern literals instead: /()/

And there is no reason to use new Function(). Use function expressions instead: function () {}.

And there is no reason to use new Object(). Use object literals instead: {}

Example

var x1 = {};            // new object
var x2 = "";            // new primitive string
var x3 = 0;             // new primitive number
var x4 = false;         // new primitive boolean
var x5 = [];            // new array object
var x6 = /()/           // new regexp object
var x7 = function(){};  // new function object

Try it Yourself »

String Objects

Normally, strings are created as primitives: var firstName = "John"

But strings can also be created as objects using the new keyword: var firstName = new String("John")

Learn why strings should not be created as object in the chapter JS Strings.

Number Objects

Normally, numbers are created as primitives: var x = 123

But numbers can also be created as objects using the new keyword: var x = new Number(123)

Learn why numbers should not be created as object in the chapter JS Numbers.

Boolean Objects

Normally, booleans are created as primitives: var x = false

But booleans can also be created as objects using the new keyword: var x = new Boolean(false)

Learn why booleans should not be created as object in the chapter JS Booleans.