how to declare an associative array in javascript? Unlike PHP, I find it really difficult to implement

Question

How do you access a key named "foo" of the 5th element of an array that is the 2nd element of another array that is the value of a hash key named "baz"?

can you provide the basic examples?

Associative arrays don't exist in JavaScript. You'll have to use objects instead { foo: "bar" }, only don't expect properties to always have the same "index" in an object. — Sampson
– Sampson, Commented May 28, 2013 at 15:58
JavaScript doesn't have associative arrays! It has (numeric) arrays, and objects. You can make an object: {foo: "bar", baz: "foobar"}, but they are unordered. — gen_Eric
– gen_Eric, Commented May 28, 2013 at 15:59
It might be helpful if you could demonstrate in pseudocode or PHP the functionality you'd like to see. Your written-out description is a bit difficult to follow. — apsillers
– apsillers, Commented May 28, 2013 at 16:02

George Reith · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-28 16:02:17Z

1

You want to use an object:

var obj = {
   foo: {
      bar: "yo"
   }
}
console.log(obj["foo"]["bar"]);

// Or you could do this

var obj = {};
obj["foo"] = {};
obj["foo"]["bar"] = "yo";
console.log(obj["foo"]["bar"]);

Note the order of an object is not guaranteed and can change depending on the interpreter / compiler.

An array in JavaScript is just an object with numerical indices (With some specific methods - see comment below). In fact pretty much everything in JavaScript is an object.

edited May 28, 2013 at 16:02

answered May 28, 2013 at 15:58

George Reith

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1 Comment

Quentin Over a year ago

Array's have a bunch of methods (e.g. indexOf) and properties (e.g. length) that you don't get on plain objects.

Klors · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-28 16:05:34Z

1

How do you access a key named "foo" of the 5th element of an array that is the 2nd element of another array that is the value of a hash key named "baz"?

variableName["baz"][1][4]["foo"];

Would get you "The value here" from

var variableName = { baz: [0, [0, 1, 2, 3, { foo: "The value here" }]] };

and here's a jsFiddle to play with

answered May 28, 2013 at 16:05

Klors

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