js8.js

// Object literals and the dot notation
/*  One of the most common ways of building an object in JavaScript is using the object literal syntax: {}.

To be able to access this object literal, it is very common to assign it to a variable  */
var user = {}


/*  Now an object literal is assigned to the variable user, which means that the object it is bound to can be extended and manipulated in a myriad of ways.

Sometimes, an entire object can be immediately built, using the object literal syntax, by specifying the object's properties, delimited as key-value pairs, using syntax that was already covered in an earlier lesson item in this lesson.

Here's one such previously built object:  */
//creating an object with properties and their values
var assistantManager = {
    rangeTilesPerTurn: 3,
    socialSkills: 30,
    streetSmarts: 30,
    health: 40,
    specialAbility: "young and ambitious",
    greeting: "Let's make some money"
}

/*  The beauty of this syntax is that it's so easily readable. 

It essentially consists of two steps: 

1. Declaring a new variable and assigning an object literal to it - in other words, this: var assistantManager = {} 

2. Assigning the values to each of the object's keys, using the assignment operator, =

Notice that it's very easy to build any kind of an object in JavaScript using this example syntax.

For example, here's a table object:  */
var table = {
    legs: 3,
    color: "brown",
    priceUSD: 100,
}

//To access the table object, I can simply console log the entire object
console.log(table);//display the object in the developer console

//The returned value is the entire table object: 
{legs: 3, color; 'brown', priceUSD; 100}

//Additionally, I can console log any individual property, like this
console.log(table.color); // 'brown'

//Now that I have this "syntax recipe", I can build any other object in a similar way
var house = {
    rooms: 3,
    color: "brown",
    priceUSD: 10000,
}

//An alternative approach of building objects is to first save an empty object literal to a variable, 
//then use the dot notation to declare new properties on the fly, and use the assignment operator to add 
//values to those properties; for example
var house2 = {};
house2.rooms = 4;
house2.color = "pink";
house2.priceUSD = 12345;


//Additionally, nothing is preventing me from combining the two approaches. For example
console.log(house); // {rooms: 3, color: "brown", priceUSD: 10000}
house.windows = 10;
console.log(house); // {rooms: 3, color: "brown", priceUSD: 10000, windows: 10}

//This flexbility additionally means that I can update already existing properties, not just add new ones
house.windows = 11;
console.log(house); // {rooms: 3, color: "brown", priceUSD: 10000, windows: 11}