How to join two JavaScript Objects, without using JQUERY

javascript

Solution

There are couple of different solutions to achieve this:

1 - Native javascript for-in loop:

const result = {};
let key;

for (key in obj1) {
  if(obj1.hasOwnProperty(key)){
    result[key] = obj1[key];
  }
}

for (key in obj2) {
  if(obj2.hasOwnProperty(key)){
    result[key] = obj2[key];
  }
}

2 - `Object.keys()`:

const result = {};

Object.keys(obj1)
  .forEach(key => result[key] = obj1[key]);

Object.keys(obj2)
  .forEach(key => result[key] = obj2[key]);

3 - `Object.assign()`: (Browser compatibility: Chrome: 45, Firefox (Gecko): 34, Internet Explorer: No support, Edge: (Yes), Opera: 32, Safari: 9)

const result = Object.assign({}, obj1, obj2);

4 - Spread Operator: Standardised from ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262):

Defined in several sections of the specification: Array Initializer, Argument Lists

Using this new syntax you could join/merge different objects into one object like this:

const result = {
  ...obj1,
  ...obj2,
};

5 - `jQuery.extend(target, obj1, obj2)`:

Merge the contents of two or more objects together into the first object.

const target = {};

$.extend(target, obj1, obj2);

6 - `jQuery.extend(true, target, obj1, obj2)`:

Run a deep merge of the contents of two or more objects together into the target. Passing `false` for the first argument is not supported.

const target = {};

$.extend(true, target, obj1, obj2);

7 - Lodash `_.assignIn(object, [sources])`: also named as `_.extend`:

const result = {};

_.assignIn(result, obj1, obj2);

8 - Lodash `_.merge(object, [sources])`:

const result = _.merge(obj1, obj2);

There are a couple of important differences between lodash's merge function and `Object.assign`:

1- Although they both receive any number of objects but lodash's merge apply a deep merge of those objects but `Object.assign` only merges the first level. For instance:

_.isEqual(_.merge({
  x: {
    y: { key1: 'value1' },
  },
}, {
  x: {
    y: { key2: 'value2' },
  },
}), {
  x: {
    y: {
      key1: 'value1',
      key2: 'value2',
    },
  },
}); // true

BUT:

const result = Object.assign({
  x: {
    y: { key1: 'value1' },
  },
}, {
  x: {
    y: { key2: 'value2' },
  },
});
_.isEqual(result, {
  x: {
    y: {
      key1: 'value1',
      key2: 'value2',
    },
  },
}); // false
// AND
_.isEqual(result, {
  x: {
    y: {
      key2: 'value2',
    },
  },
}); // true

2- Another difference has to do with how `Object.assign` and `_.merge` interpret the `undefined` value:

_.isEqual(_.merge({x: 1}, {x: undefined}), { x: 1 }) // false

BUT:

_.isEqual(Object.assign({x: 1}, {x: undefined}), { x: undefined })// true

Update 1:

When using `for in` loop in JavaScript, we should be aware of our environment specially the possible prototype changes in the JavaScript types. For instance some of the older JavaScript libraries add new stuff to `Array.prototype` or even `Object.prototype`. To safeguard your iterations over from the added stuff we could use `object.hasOwnProperty(key)` to mke sure the key is actually part of the object you are iterating over.

Update 2:

I updated my answer and added the solution number 4, which is a new JavaScript feature but not completely standardized yet. I am using it with Babeljs which is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

Update 3: I added the difference between `Object.assign` and `_.merge`.

Problem

Original source

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