CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascript
zerkms
zerkms

Reputation: 255005

Garbage collection: object properties

Let's say I have an object that contains another objects as its properties like

var obj = {
    '1': {...},
    '42': {...}
};

When obj gets out of scope - do all nested objects destroyed implicitly or I need to iterate over them and delete explicitly?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 1136

Answers (1)

HBP
HBP

Reputation: 16043

Yes, unless another reference still exists :

var obj = {
    '1': {...},
    '42': {...}
};


var save = obj['1'];

obj = null;

After garbage collection and assuming no other references have been created then the space for obj and obj['42'] would be recovered, the value of saved would of course be preserved.

Mea culpa : as mentioned in the comments delete obj in my original is not valid since obj was declared as a var. Had obj been a global and hence a property of the global object, delete would have worked fine. To effectivly delete a var, use obj = null. One thing I learned testing this was that delete an operator and returns true or false.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions