Question

I use the following code to define a new namespace called com.foo

function extendNamespace(ns, ns_string) {
    var parts = ns_string.split('.');
    var parent = ns;

    for (var i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
        //create a property if it doesnt exist
        if (typeof parent[parts[i]] == 'undefined') {
            parent[parts[i]] = {};
        }
        parent = parent[parts[i]];
    }
    return ns;
}

var com = {};
extendNamespace(com, "com.foo");

console.log(com); // OK (even has an object called "foo"!!)
console.log(com.foo); // Undefined ???

The first call of console.log(com) clearly shows me in console that a new object “com” has been created which has an object called “foo”.

So far, so good.

The second call console.log(com.foo); though returns me “undefined”.

What gives?

Answer 1

The first call of console.log(com) clearly shows me in console that a new object “com” has been created which has an object called “foo”.

No. It has a property called com, the value of which is an object with a property called foo.

You are extending com with com.foo when you only want to extend it with foo.