Variable initialization with curly braces

I've just been trying to de-construct the jQuery tooltop plugin in an
attempt to better my javascript coding and I've come across a question
google can't help me with.

What is the deal with initializing a variable like this?

var helper = {},
// the current tooltipped element
current,
// the title of the current element, used for restoring
title,
// timeout id for delayed tooltips
tID,
// IE 5.5 or 6
IE = $.browser.msie && /MSIE\s(5\.5|6\.)/.test(navigator.userAgent),
// flag for mouse tracking
track = false;

What are the first curly braces?

Thanks

Nick S <nrsutton (AT) gmail (DOT) com> writes:

What is the deal with initializing a variable like this?

var helper = {},

This declares the "helper" variable and assigns it a value that is
a new object.

...

What are the first curly braces?

The expression "{}" is an object literal expression that evaluates to
a new object with no extra properties. It's equivalent to
"new Object()".

/L
--
Lasse Reichstein Nielsen
DHTML Death Colors: <URL:http://www.infimum.dk/HTML/rasterTriangleDOM.html>
'Faith without judgement merely degrades the spirit divine.'

On Jun 28, 6:03*pm, Nick S <nrsut... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

What is the deal with initializing a variable like this?

var helper = {},
(...)
What are the first curly braces?

It means "helper is an object".
It's the "literal notation" way of saying helper= new Object();

See :
<http://www.google.com/search?q=object+initialization+javascript>

--Jorge.

Jorge wrote:

On Jun 28, 6:03 pm, Nick S <nrsut... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:
What is the deal with initializing a variable like this?

var helper = {},
(...)
What are the first curly braces?


It means "helper is an object".

No, it means helper currently *stores a reference* to a (native Object) object.


PointedEars
--
realism: HTML 4.01 Strict
evangelism: XHTML 1.0 Strict
madness: XHTML 1.1 as application/xhtml+xml
-- Bjoern Hoehrmann

On Jun 28, 6:17 pm, Lasse Reichstein Nielsen <l... (AT) hotpop (DOT) com> wrote:

Nick S <nrsut... (AT) gmail (DOT) com> writes:
What is the deal with initializing a variable like this?

var helper = {},

This declares the "helper" variable and assigns it a value that is
a new object.

..

What are the first curly braces?

The expression "{}" is an object literal expression that evaluates to
a new object with no extra properties. It's equivalent to
"new Object()".

/L
--
Lasse Reichstein Nielsen
DHTML Death Colors: <URL:http://www.infimum.dk/HTML/rasterTriangleDOM.html
'Faith without judgement merely degrades the spirit divine.'

Thanks to everyone for your answers