Use a for..in
loop to enumerate an object's properties, but be careful. The enumeration will return properties not just of the object being enumerated, but also from the prototypes of any parent objects.
var myObject = {foo: 'bar'};
for (var name in myObject) {
alert(name);
}
// results in a single alert of 'foo'
Object.prototype.baz = 'quux';
for (var name in myObject) {
alert(name);
}
// results in two alerts, one for 'foo' and one for 'baz'
To avoid including inherited properties in your enumeration, check hasOwnProperty()
:
for (var name in myObject) {
if (myObject.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
alert(name);
}
}
Edit: I disagree with JasonBunting's statement that we don't need to worry about enumerating inherited properties. There is danger in enumerating over inherited properties that you aren't expecting, because it can change the behavior of your code.
It doesn't matter whether this problem exists in other languages; the fact is it exists, and JavaScript is particularly vulnerable since modifications to an object's prototype affects child objects even if the modification takes place after instantiation.
This is why JavaScript provides hasOwnProperty()
, and this is why you should use it in order to ensure that third party code (or any other code that might modify a prototype) doesn't break yours. Apart from adding a few extra bytes of code, there is no downside to using hasOwnProperty()
.