What does the JSLint error 'body of a for in should be wrapped in an if statement' mean?

Question

I used JSLint on a JavaScript file of mine. It threw the error:

for( ind in evtListeners ) {

Problem at line 41 character 9:

Answer 1

Douglas Crockford, the author of jslint has written (and spoken) about this issue many times. There's a section on this page of his website which covers this:

for Statement

A for class of statements should have the following form:

for (initialization; condition; update) {
    statements
}

for (variable in object) {
    if (filter) {
        statements
    } 
}

The first form should be used with arrays and with loops of a predeterminable number of iterations.

The second form should be used with objects. Be aware that members that are added to the prototype of the object will be included in the enumeration. It is wise to program defensively by using the hasOwnProperty method to distinguish the true members of the object:

for (variable in object) {
    if (object.hasOwnProperty(variable)) {
        statements
    } 
}

Crockford also has a video series on YUI theater where he talks about this. Crockford's series of videos/talks about javascript are a must see if you're even slightly serious about javascript.