Are there pointers in javascript?
javascript, pointers
Solution
No, JS doesn't have pointers.
Objects are passed around by passing a copy of a reference. The programmer cannot access any C-like "value" representing the address of an object.
Within a function, one may change the contents of a passed object via that reference, but you cannot modify the reference that the caller had because your reference is only a copy:
var foo = {'bar': 1};
function tryToMungeReference(obj) {
obj = {'bar': 2}; // won't change caller's object
}
function mungeContents(obj) {
obj.bar = 2; // changes _contents_ of caller's object
}
tryToMungeReference(foo);
foo.bar === 1; // true - foo still references original object
mungeContents(foo);
foo.bar === 2; // true - object referenced by foo has been modified
Problem
I used C++ before and I realized that pointers were very helpful. Is there anything in javascript that acts like a pointer? Does javascript have pointers? I like to use pointers when I want to use something like: ``` var a = 1; var b = "a"; document.getElementById(/* value pointed by b */).innerHTML="Pointers"; ``` I know that this is an extremely simple example and I could just use `a`, but there are several more complex examples where I would find pointers very useful. Any ideas?