JavaScript: Property Overview

A JavaScript object is a set of key/value pairs. Each pair is called a “property”.

〔►see JavaScript: Object System Overview〕

2 Kinds of Properties

There are 2 kinds of properties.

1. Data property → This is the property most of us are familiar with, and is the property used in 99% of code.
2. Accessor property → Also known as Getter/Setter property. Accessor property generates its value dynamically when being accessed or set. (it calls a function implicitly).

〔►see JavaScript: Getter/Setter Properties〕

Property Attributes

Each JavaScript property has associated info called attribute.

For Data Property, the attributes are: {value, writable, enumerable, configurable}.

For Accessor Property:

• For Getter Property, the attributes are: {get, enumerable, configurable}.
• For Setter Property, the attributes are: {set, enumerable, configurable}.

〔►see JavaScript: Property Attributes〕

Own Property and Inherited Property

A property can be said to be a object's “own property” or “inherited property”.

• own property → a property of a object.
• inherited property → a property of the object's parent or ancestor. (parent/ancestor line is called prototype chain)

When a property is looked up (For example, x.color), JavaScript look at the object to see if it has that property, if not, it lookup its parent, and repeat, until a property is found or a parent is null. This is the technical meaning of inheritance.

〔►see JavaScript: Prototype and Inheritance〕

This is the most important thing about properties. The behavior of many operations on properties, such as {accessing, setting, deleting, “for … in” loop, checking existence, …}, depend on whether the property is the object's own property.

〔►see JavaScript: Check Property Existence〕

When writing to a property or deleting a property, parent object is never touched. Only when reading property, the prototype chain (parents) is looked up.

〔►see JavaScript: Get Property, Set Property〕

Property Key Datatype, Property Value Datatype

Property key can be type string or type symbol. 〔►see JavaScript: Property Key〕

Property value can be any type. 〔►see JavaScript: Data Types〕

When a property value is a function, that property is often called a “method”.

Dot Notation and Bracket Notation

There are 2 syntax to access a object's property:

• Dot notation: object_name.property_key. (For example, x.b)
• Bracket notation: object_name[property_key]. (For example, x["b"]) This is more general, but inconvenient to type.

〔►see JavaScript: Property Dot Notation / Bracket Notation〕

Add / Remove Property

Property can be added or removed from object.

〔►see JavaScript: Create/Delete Property〕

〔►see JavaScript: Prevent Adding Property〕

Accessing (Reading, Writing, Listing, Check Existence) of Property

Property value can be changed anytime (unless the attribute “configurable” is false).

You can also check if a property exists for a object, in its parents, or list a object's own properties. See:

• JavaScript: Check Property Existence
• JavaScript: Access Property, List Properties