How to iterate (keys, values) in JavaScript?

tl;dr

  1. In ECMAScript 2017, just call Object.entries(yourObj).
  2. In ECMAScript 2015, it is possible with Maps.
  3. In ECMAScript 5, it is not possible.

ECMAScript 2017

ECMAScript 2017 introduced a new Object.entries function. You can use this to iterate the object as you wanted.

'use strict';

const object = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c' : 3};

for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(object)) {
  console.log(key, value);
}

Output

a 1
b 2
c 3

ECMAScript 2015

In ECMAScript 2015, there is not Object.entries but you can use Map objects instead and iterate over them with Map.prototype.entries. Quoting the example from that page,

var myMap = new Map();
myMap.set("0", "foo");
myMap.set(1, "bar");
myMap.set({}, "baz");

var mapIter = myMap.entries();

console.log(mapIter.next().value); // ["0", "foo"]
console.log(mapIter.next().value); // [1, "bar"]
console.log(mapIter.next().value); // [Object, "baz"]

Or iterate with for..of, like this

'use strict';

var myMap = new Map();
myMap.set("0", "foo");
myMap.set(1, "bar");
myMap.set({}, "baz");

for (const entry of myMap.entries()) {
  console.log(entry);
}

Output

[ '0', 'foo' ]
[ 1, 'bar' ]
[ {}, 'baz' ]

Or

for (const [key, value] of myMap.entries()) {
  console.log(key, value);
}

Output

0 foo
1 bar
{} baz

ECMAScript 5:

No, it's not possible with objects.

You should either iterate with for..in, or Object.keys, like this

for (var key in dictionary) {
    // check if the property/key is defined in the object itself, not in parent
    if (dictionary.hasOwnProperty(key)) {           
        console.log(key, dictionary[key]);
    }
}

Note: The if condition above is necessary only if you want to iterate over the properties which are the dictionary object's very own. Because for..in will iterate through all the inherited enumerable properties.

Or

Object.keys(dictionary).forEach(function(key) {
    console.log(key, dictionary[key]);
});

Try this:

dict = {0:{1:'a'}, 1:{2:'b'}, 2:{3:'c'}}
for (var key in dict){
  console.log( key, dict[key] );
}

0 Object { 1="a"}
1 Object { 2="b"}
2 Object { 3="c"}

WELCOME TO 2020 *Drools in ES6*

Theres some pretty old answers in here - take advantage of destructuring. In my opinion this is without a doubt the nicest (very readable) way to iterate an object.

const myObject = {
    nick: 'cage',
    phil: 'murray',
};

Object.entries(myObject).forEach(([k,v]) => {
    console.log("The key: ", k)
    console.log("The value: ", v)
})

Edit:

As mentioned by Lazerbeak, map allows you to cycle an object and use the key and value to make an array.

const myObject = {
    nick: 'cage',
    phil: 'murray',
};

const myArray = Object.entries(myObject).map(([k, v]) => {
    return `The key '${k}' has a value of '${v}'`;
});

console.log(myArray);

Edit 2:

To explain what is happening in the line of code:

Object.entries(myObject).forEach(([k,v]) => {}

Object.entries() converts our object to an array of arrays:

[["nick", "cage"], ["phil", "murray"]]

Then we use forEach on the outer array:

1st loop: ["nick", "cage"]
2nd loop: ["phil", "murray"]

Then we "destructure" the value (which we know will always be an array) with ([k,v]) so k becomes the first name and v becomes the last name.


The Object.entries() method has been specified in ES2017 (and is supported in all modern browsers):

for (const [ key, value ] of Object.entries(dictionary)) {
    // do something with `key` and `value`
}

Explanation:

  • Object.entries() takes an object like { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 } and turns it into an array of key-value pairs: [ [ 'a', 1 ], [ 'b', 2 ], [ 'c', 3 ] ].

  • With for ... of we can loop over the entries of the so created array.

  • Since we are guaranteed that each of the so iterated array items is itself a two-entry array, we can use destructuring to directly assign variables key and value to its first and second item.