Referencing objects in Javascript

When you have a multi-tiered object like a json object that say has 3 tiers

i = {'id':1{'name':'austin', 'lives':'college'{'name':'eckerd', 'major':'compsci'}}}

To reference the object is it better to reference it like so

for (x in i)
    i[x]['lives']['name']
//or
    i[x].lives.name

I think that gets my idea a开发者_如何学Pythoncross. Pretty much use Associative arrays or the 'dot' method and why?

i[x].lives.name is equivalent to i[x]["lives"]["name"].

i[x][lives][name] means that you have variables called lives and name that you want to reference:

There's no real benefit to using one form over the other; imho it's clearest to use the dot notation unless you need the variable property names.

"Values can be retrieved from an object by wrapping a string expression in a [ ] suffix. If the string expression is a string literal, and if it is a legal JavaScript name and not a reserved word, then the . notation can be used instead. The . notation is preferred because it is more compact and reads better."

• Crockford, D. (2008), JavaScript: The Good Parts. (pp. 21). Sebastopol, CA, U.S.A.: O'Reilly.