Javascript: removing an item from an object

Question

I have an object of items used as a dictionary with key/value pairs:

var stuff = {};
stuff["jar"] = "biscuit";

I'm trying to remove an item. So far, no array method seems to work. Is this even an array (as you probably guessed, I'm not too crash hot on Javascript).

How do I remove an item?

meder omuraliev · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-03 03:23:07Z

2

delete stuff['jar'] would remove it

you created an object literal and assigned the 'jar' property to be 'biscuit', [] is the syntax for a true array, though in ECMAScript arrays are really objects and should be used for numerically indexed sets as opposed to key/value specific sets

in short, you are using the right data type for the job.

answered Dec 3, 2011 at 3:23

meder omuraliev

187k76 gold badges401 silver badges443 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Daniel Szabo Over a year ago

just out of curiosity -- I've seen this type of question before and the answer is always 'let the GC handle it'. Is this situation different?

nnnnnn Over a year ago

@ajax81 - This is different. It's not about freeing up memory, it's about changing the state of the object by deleting one of its properties. In the simple example it was the only property, but if you imagine a more complicated object with lots of properties, if you deleted one of them and later enumerated the object's (remaining) properties in a for..in loop the deleted one would no longer be there - I'm sure you can imagine some reasons why you'd want to do that.

Stefan Kendall · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-03 03:23:16Z

0

delete stuff['jar']

You have an object, not an array.

answered Dec 3, 2011 at 3:23

Stefan Kendall

68.2k69 gold badges259 silver badges409 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Javascript: removing an item from an object

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Related