CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptarraysobject
user5844628
user5844628

Reputation: 419

JavaScript Array behaving like an object

I am trying to understand something in JavaScript.

Lets say I do the following: 

   let x = [];
   x['Monday'] = 'Work';
   x['Tuesday'] = 'More Work';

   console.log(x) //[Monday: "Work", Tuesday: "More Work"]
   console.log(x.Monday) //"Work"
   console.log(x.Tuesday) //"More Work"

Can someone help explain why the array now behaves like an Object?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1384

Answers (5)

prasanthv
prasanthv

Reputation: 2492

I think you’ve heard by now that Array is a type of Object, so I won’t beat that dead horse any further. Well maybe a little.

Which means you can accsss and set properties with names like “Monday” and “Tuesday”. Since it’s a type of Object this is no problem (and a statement like a[‘1’] is implicitly converting that string ‘1’ to a number 1). But don’t mistake this property name to be an array index, those are specifically integers**. What’s the importance of that?

Arrays have a nice behaviour that when you use an actual array index, the length property is automatically updated for you. Not to mention array index access is usually optimized by JVM implementations to be noticeably faster than regular property accesses.

Also let’s not forget one of the other huge benefits of having Arrays, they inherit from the Array.prototype, which has a whole lot of useful methods :)!

So in short use Arrays like Arrays — gain the perf boost while also making sure the code is easier to comprehend.

Source: JS Definitive Guide 6th - Array chapter

(** non-negative and less than 2^32-2 since arrays has 32-bit size indexes.)

Upvotes: 0

Lupus
Lupus

Reputation: 1518

Because in javascript there is no real Array type as a low level type. Array class is just a kind of a class which extended from Object class.

  • Every class in javascript except primitives like Number, String ect. are extended from Object class.
  • Every object (instance of class) can have properties and methods.
  • Every instance of classes can have new properties and methods on the run-time as well as this properties could be changed modified or deleted.

So by doing this.

var ar = [] // I used array literal. Not totally same but similar of doing new Array();
arr['foo'] = 'bar';

You are just adding a new property to an object.

Upvotes: 0

manas
manas

Reputation: 6400

over all JavaScript array is also an object

if you check the type of x

typeof x

it will prints "object"

var x =[];
x.name = "X";

here we are creating a property "name" of x array

Upvotes: 0

Chirag Ravindra
Chirag Ravindra

Reputation: 4830

Everything in JS is an Object except the Primitive types (and even those come with Object wrappers)

That is why you can access properties and methods like array.length array.indexOf() etc just like you would with any other object. The indices are like special properties on the array object which are iterable

Upvotes: 0

smnbbrv
smnbbrv

Reputation: 24531

Because array IS an Object

[] instanceof Object
> true

[] instanceof Array
> true

Both give you true because Array extends normal Object functionality. Furthermore, the array indexes all its members by string values

const array = [];

array[0] = 1;

array['0'] // will give you 1

which is also unexpected by most of the people. So, the array behaves like an Object even if you use it as a normal array with indices

Upvotes: 8

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