Question

This seems quite simple, but I can’t figure it out.

In PHP, I could do something like this:

$number_children[reference_number - 1][$key] = value;

In Javascript, I need to do the same: set a value in an associative array, which is in a normal array.

I’ve tried this:

number_children[reference_number - 1][key] = $(this).val();

This didn’t seem to work. What’s a simple method of setting this value?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Answer 1

In Javascript arrays and “associative arrays” are different. In fact, Javascript people don’t use the term “associative arrays”, they call them “objects” (or “hashes”).

So, you can do this:

number_children[reference_number - 1] = {};
number_children[reference_number - 1][key] = $(this).val();

But this can have unexpected results when you try to iterate it, due to length not being set:

number_children[reference_number - 1] = [];
number_children[reference_number - 1][key] = $(this).val();