JavaScript Objects Dynamic / variable property names
Example
Sometimes the property name needs to be stored into a variable. In this example, we ask the user what word needs to be looked up, and then provide the result from an object I've named dictionary.
var dictionary = {
lettuce: 'a veggie',
banana: 'a fruit',
tomato: 'it depends on who you ask',
apple: 'a fruit',
Apple: 'Steve Jobs rocks!' // properties are case-sensitive
}
var word = prompt('What word would you like to look up today?')
var definition = dictionary[word]
alert(word + '\n\n' + definition)
Note how we are using [] bracket notation to look at the variable named word; if we were to use the traditional . notation, then it would take the value literally, hence:
console.log(dictionary.word) // doesn't work because word is taken literally and dictionary has no field named `word`
console.log(dictionary.apple) // it works! because apple is taken literally
console.log(dictionary[word]) // it works! because word is a variable, and the user perfectly typed in one of the words from our dictionary when prompted
console.log(dictionary[apple]) // error! apple is not defined (as a variable)
You could also write literal values with [] notation by replacing the variable word with a string 'apple'. See [Properties with special characters or reserved words] example.
You can also set dynamic properties with the bracket syntax:
var property="test";
var obj={
[property]=1;
};
console.log(obj.test);//1
It does the same as:
var property="test";
var obj={};
obj[property]=1;
