CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptarrayslistobject
Remo Williams
Remo Williams

Reputation: 235

Javascript - efficient way to store/work with my large object list

I'm working on creating an online guide. It will survey users, and based on their answers, output a list that best suits their needs.

I'm about to assemble a large list of objects and properties, but before I spend too much time on it, I'd like to address some concerns:

To give you an idea of what I'm going for, here's an example using an interactive guide to finding a travel destination:

Questions for the user:

<form name="equator" action="">
<p>What side of the equator do you want to visit?</p>
<input type="radio" name="equator" value="north">North<br />
<input type="radio" name="equator" value="south">South<br />
</form>
<br />
<form name="english" action="">
<p>Does English need to be the first language?</p>
<input type="radio" name="english" value="yes">Yes<br />
<input type="radio" name="english" value="no">No<br />
</form>
<br />
<form name="beach" action="">
<p>Do you want a nearby beach?</p>
<input type="radio" name="beach" value="yes">Yes<br />
<input type="radio" name="beach" value="maybe">Maybe<br />
<input type="radio" name="beach" value="no">No<br />
</form>

The following is the way I plan to create the object list:

destinations = [

{
    name: "Moscow", equator: "north", english: "no", beach: "no"
},

{
    name: "Lima", equator: "south", english: "no", beach: "no"
},

{
    name: "Nantucket", equator: "north", english: "yes", beach: "yes"
},

]

In the project I'm working on, the object list will actually number in the hundreds, with up-to two dozen properties. That said, here are my concerns (in case it affects your answers, I should note that my experience with Javascript only dates back about two weeks):

Thanks for your time.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 3128

Answers (2)

Paul S.
Paul S.

Reputation: 66334

Arrays and Objects are good at storing data like this. In JavaScript, an Array is just a specific type of Object.

What you should think about is how can you make the data as "basic" as possible; i.e. if an answer has only two answers, consider using the Boolean true or false. If it is more, then the next stop should be integers 0, 1, .. In some cases in JavaScript integers work more efficiently than Boolean values. The idea I'm trying to convey is it's normally more efficient to only use a string when you actually need a string, e.g. for a name.

One of the best resources to learn JavaScript is probably Codecademy, w3schools is not a good resource.

Upvotes: 3

Billdr
Billdr

Reputation: 1579

Like Joseph Silber said in the comments, you'll want to change the types on english and beach to boolean, IE: true or false.

As for storing your objects, I like plugins, in theory. Take a look at the tutorials on www.knockoutjs.com. First they'll show you how to create objects with name, equator, english, and beach properties. It will also show you a lot of cool things you can do with that data that'll improve user experience.

Edit: Sorry, to directly answer your question, look into JSON. You're on the right track already, I'm just not sure how you're generating your array.

Upvotes: 1

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