Question

This has always been a bit confusing to me and my programming jargon isn’t adequate to google it. Not even sure if the title makes sense.
For example, if I have an array of objects like so…

var someObjects = [{type: 'apple'}, {type: 'orange'}, {type: 'banana'}];

…and I say that…

var theBestFruit = someObjects[2];

but then we add another object to the beginning, shifting all the elements…

someObjects.unshift({type: 'pear'});

Will theBestFruit still reference the banana object? Or will it now be the orange? Some explanation would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

theBestFruit = someObjects[2] will look up what is at the second (or third, if you count as a non-programmer :p ) position of someObject, (which is the object {type: 'banana'}, and assign a direct reference to this object to theBestFruit. The reference is not to the second object of someObjects. Thus, if someObjects change, theBestFruit will still be {type: 'banana'}.

The best way to test it would be to… test it.