Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty()
The hasOwnProperty()
method of Object
instances returns a boolean indicating whether this
object has the specified property as its own property (as opposed to inheriting
it).
Note: Object.hasOwn()
is recommended over
hasOwnProperty()
, in browsers where it is supported.
Try it
Syntax
hasOwnProperty(prop)
Parameters
Return value
Returns true
if the object has the specified property as own property; false
otherwise.
Description
The hasOwnProperty()
method returns true
if the specified property is a
direct property of the object — even if the value is null
or undefined
. The
method returns false
if the property is inherited, or has not been declared at
all. Unlike the in
operator, this
method does not check for the specified property in the object's prototype
chain.
The method can be called on most JavaScript objects, because most objects
descend from Object
, and hence inherit its methods. For
example Array
is an Object
, so you can
use hasOwnProperty()
method to check whether an index exists:
const fruits = ["Apple", "Banana", "Watermelon", "Orange"];
fruits.hasOwnProperty(3); // true ('Orange')
fruits.hasOwnProperty(4); // false - not defined
The method will not be available in objects where it is reimplemented, or on
null
-prototype objects (as these don't inherit from
Object.prototype
). Examples for these cases are given below.
Examples
Using hasOwnProperty to test for an own property's existence
The following code shows how to determine whether the example
object contains a property named prop
.
const example = {};
example.hasOwnProperty("prop"); // false
example.prop = "exists";
example.hasOwnProperty("prop"); // true - 'prop' has been defined
example.prop = null;
example.hasOwnProperty("prop"); // true - own property exists with value of null
example.prop = undefined;
example.hasOwnProperty("prop"); // true - own property exists with value of undefined
Direct vs. inherited properties
The following example differentiates between direct properties and properties inherited through the prototype chain:
const example = {};
example.prop = "exists";
// `hasOwnProperty` will only return true for direct properties:
example.hasOwnProperty("prop"); // true
example.hasOwnProperty("toString"); // false
example.hasOwnProperty("hasOwnProperty"); // false
// The `in` operator will return true for direct or inherited properties:
"prop" in example; // true
"toString" in example; // true
"hasOwnProperty" in example; // true
Iterating over the properties of an object
The following example shows how to iterate over the enumerable properties of an object without executing on inherited properties.
const buz = {
fog: "stack",
};
for (const name in buz) {
if (buz.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
console.log(`this is fog (${name}) for sure. Value: ${buz[name]}`);
} else {
console.log(name); // toString or something else
}
}
Note that the for...in
loop
only iterates enumerable items: the absence of non-enumerable properties emitted
from the loop does not imply that hasOwnProperty
itself is confined strictly
to enumerable items. You can iterate over non-enumerable properties with
Object.getOwnPropertyNames()
.
Using hasOwnProperty as a property name
JavaScript does not protect the property name hasOwnProperty
; an object that
has a property with this name may return incorrect results:
const foo = {
hasOwnProperty() {
return false;
},
bar: "Here be dragons",
};
foo.hasOwnProperty("bar"); // re-implementation always returns false
The recommended way to overcome this problem is to instead use
Object.hasOwn()
(in browsers that support it). Other
alternatives include using an external hasOwnProperty
:
const foo = { bar: "Here be dragons" };
// Use Object.hasOwn() method - recommended
Object.hasOwn(foo, "bar"); // true
// Use the hasOwnProperty property from the Object prototype
Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(foo, "bar"); // true
// Use another Object's hasOwnProperty
// and call it with 'this' set to foo
({}).hasOwnProperty.call(foo, "bar"); // true
Note that in the first two cases there are no newly created objects.
Objects created with Object.create(null)
null
-prototype objects do not
inherit from Object.prototype
, making hasOwnProperty()
inaccessible.
const foo = Object.create(null);
foo.prop = "exists";
foo.hasOwnProperty("prop"); // Uncaught TypeError: foo.hasOwnProperty is not a function
The solutions in this case are the same as for the previous section: use
Object.hasOwn()
by preference, otherwise use an
external object's hasOwnProperty()
.
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-object.prototype.hasownproperty |
Browser compatibility
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