Why is my objects turn into arrays after pushing object into another array in Javascript?

Question

JS newbie here. I'm learning to convert a nested array into an array containing objects.

My question: Why does var outObj = {}; turns into an array after pushing outobj{} into outArr[]?
(Please see expected and actual output at the end of this post) Thank you in advance for your help.

function transformEmployeeData(inArr) {
  var outArr = []; 

  for(var x = 0; x < inArr.length; x++){

    var outObj = {}; // The obj that will be stores in outArr[]
    var a1 = inArr[x]; 
    //console.log(a1 + '\n');

    for(var y = 0; y < a1.length; y++){
      outObj[a1[y][0]] = a1[y][1];
      //console.log(outObj[a1[y][0]]);
    }
    outArr.push(outObj);
  }
  return arr;
}

var arr = [
    [
        ['firstName', 'Joe'], ['lastName', 'Blow'], ['age', 42], ['role', 'clerk']
    ],
    [
        ['firstName', 'Mary'], ['lastName', 'Jenkins'], ['age', 36], ['role', 'manager']
    ]
];
console.log(transformEmployeeData(arr)); 
/* 
Expected Output:
[
    {firstName: 'Joe', lastName: 'Blow', age: 42, role: 'clerk'},
    {firstName: 'Mary', lastName: 'Jenkins', age: 36, role: 'manager'}
]

Actual Output:
[ [ [ 'firstName', 'Joe' ],
    [ 'lastName', 'Blow' ],
    [ 'age', 42 ],
    [ 'role', 'clerk' ] ],
  [ [ 'firstName', 'Mary' ],
    [ 'lastName', 'Jenkins' ],
    [ 'age', 36 ],
    [ 'role', 'manager' ] ] ]
*/

You are returning the value you are passing to the function (indirectly). Do console.log(transformEmployeeData([])); and be surprised ;) — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Oct 21, 2017 at 4:08

guest271314 · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-21 04:07:35Z

1

Return outArr instead of arr from transformEmployeeData() function call

return outArr;

answered Oct 21, 2017 at 4:07

guest271314

1

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1 Comment

LED Fantom Over a year ago

Phew....thanks so much @guest271314 Learning everything and sorting out everything at once made my mind tired.

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