What is the difference between ImmutableJS Map() and fromJS()?

Question

var a = {address: {postcode: 5085}}

var b = Immutable.fromJS(a)
var c = b.setIn(['address', 'suburb'], 'broadview').toJS(); // no error
console.log(c); 

var d = Immutable.Map(a);
var e = d.setIn(['address', 'suburb'], 'broadview').toJS(); // error invalid keyPath(…)

Could someone explain the difference.

Thanks,

Answer 1

In this example,

var a = {address: {postcode: 5085}}
var d = Immutable.Map(a);

Here, d.get('address') is immutable. It's value cannot change to any other objects. We can only create a new Object from the existing object using the Immutable.Map.set() function of ImmutableJS.

But, the object referenced by d.get('address') i.e, {postcode:5085} is a standard JavaScript object. It is mutable. A statement like this can alter the value of postcode:

d.get('address').postcode=6000;

If you check the value of d again, you can see that he value has been changed.

console.log(JSON.stringify(d));   //Outputs {"address":{"postcode":6000}}

which is against the principles of immutability.

The reason is that ImmutableJS data structures like List and Map imparts the immutability feature to only the level-1 members of the List/Map.

So, if you have objects inside arrays or arrays inside objects and want them too to be immutable, your choice is Immutable.fromJS.

var a = {address: {postcode: 5085}}
var b = Immutable.fromJS(a);
b.get('address').postcode=6000;
console.log(JSON.stringify(b));   //Outputs {"address":{"postcode":5085}}

From the above example you can clearly know how fromJS makes the nested members immutable.

I hope you understood the difference between Map and fromJS. All the best =)

Answer 2

fromJS does a deep conversion. That is, it'll recurse through all the keys and convert all elements to Lists, Maps, etc.

In your second example, address is a plain object, not an ImmutableJS object, so you cannot use setIn to change its value.