[javascript] Getting a list of associative array keys

I have an associative array in JavaScript:

var dictionary = {
    "cats": [1,2,3,4,5],
    "dogs": [6,7,8,9,10]
};

How do I get this dictionary's keys? I.e., I want

var keys = ["cats", "dogs"];

Just to get the terminology correct - there is no such thing as an 'associative array' in JavaScript - this is technically just an object and it is the object keys we want.

Simple jQuery way:

This is what I use:

DictionaryObj being the JavaScript dictionary object you want to go through. And value, key of course being the names of them in the dictionary.

$.each(DictionaryObj, function (key, value) {
    $("#storeDuplicationList")
        .append($("<li></li>")
        .attr("value", key)
        .text(value));
});

Just a quick note. Be wary of using for..in if you use a library (jQuery, Prototype, etc.), as most of them add methods to created Objects (including dictionaries).

This will mean that when you loop over them, method names will appear as keys. If you are using a library, look at the documentation and look for an enumerable section, where you will find the right methods for iteration of your objects.

for (var key in dictionary) {
  // Do something with key
}

It's the for..in statement.

I am currently using Rob de la Cruz's reply:

Object.keys(obj)

And in a file loaded early on I have some lines of code borrowed from elsewhere on the Internet which cover the case of old versions of script interpreters that do not have Object.keys built in.

if (!Object.keys) {
    Object.keys = function(object) {
        var keys = [];
        for (var o in object) {
            if (object.hasOwnProperty(o)) {
                keys.push(o);
            }
        }
        return keys;
    };
}

I think this is the best of both worlds for large projects: simple modern code and backwards compatible support for old versions of browsers, etc.

Effectively it puts JW's solution into the function when Rob de la Cruz's Object.keys(obj) is not natively available.

Try this:

var keys = [];
for (var key in dictionary) {
  if (dictionary.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
    keys.push(key);
  }
}

hasOwnProperty is needed because it's possible to insert keys into the prototype object of dictionary. But you typically don't want those keys included in your list.

For example, if you do this:

Object.prototype.c = 3;
var dictionary = {a: 1, b: 2};

and then do a for...in loop over dictionary, you'll get a and b, but you'll also get c.