Meaning of '{ }' in javascript

Question

What does assigning a variable to {}, mean? Is that initializing it to a function? I have code in a javascript file that says this

GLGE.Wavefront =          


        

Answer 1

It's an initialized empty object, eg. an object of no particular type. It serves to provide a definition for this.materials so that the code won't have to check it for null or being defined later.