Convert object array to hash map, indexed by an attribute value of the Object

Question

Use Case

The use case is to convert an array of objects into a hash map based on string or function provided to evaluate and use as the key in the hash map and val

Answer 1

There are better ways to do this as explained by other posters. But if I want to stick to pure JS and ol' fashioned way then here it is:

var arr = [
    { key: 'foo', val: 'bar' },
    { key: 'hello', val: 'world' },
    { key: 'hello', val: 'universe' }
];

var map = {};
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
    var key = arr[i].key;
    var value = arr[i].val;

    if (key in map) {
        map[key].push(value);
    } else {
        map[key] = [value];
    }
}

console.log(map);