Object.freeze()

The Object.freeze() method freezes an object. A frozen object can no longer be changed; freezing an object prevents new properties from being added to it, existing properties from being removed, prevents changing the enumerability, configurability, or writability of existing properties, and prevents the values of existing properties from being changed. In addition, freezing an object also prevents its prototype from being changed. freeze() returns the same object that was passed in.

Syntax

Object.freeze(obj)

Parameters

obj

The object to freeze.

Return value

The object that was passed to the function.

Description

Nothing can be added to or removed from the properties set of a frozen object. Any attempt to do so will fail, either silently or by throwing a TypeError exception (most commonly, but not exclusively, when in strict mode).

For data properties of a frozen object, values cannot be changed, the writable and configurable attributes are set to false. Accessor properties (getters and setters) work the same (and still give the illusion that you are changing the value). Note that values that are objects can still be modified, unless they are also frozen. As an object, an array can be frozen; after doing so, its elements cannot be altered and no elements can be added to or removed from the array.

freeze() returns the same object that was passed into the function. It does not create a frozen copy.

In ES5, if the argument to this method is not an object (a primitive), then it will cause a TypeError. In ES2015, a non-object argument will be treated as if it were a frozen ordinary object, and be returned. 

> Object.freeze(1)
TypeError: 1 is not an object // ES5 code

> Object.freeze(1)
1                             // ES2015 code

An ArrayBufferView with elements will cause a TypeError, as they are views over memory and will definitely cause other possible issues: 

> Object.freeze(new Uint8Array(0)) // No elements
Uint8Array []

> Object.freeze(new Uint8Array(1)) // Has elements
TypeError: Cannot freeze array buffer views with elements

> Object.freeze(new DataView(new ArrayBuffer(32))) // No elements
DataView {}

> Object.freeze(new Float64Array(new ArrayBuffer(64), 63, 0)) // No elements
Float64Array []

> Object.freeze(new Float64Array(new ArrayBuffer(64), 32, 2)) // Has elements
TypeError: Cannot freeze array buffer views with elements

Note that; as the standard three properties (buf.byteLength, buf.byteOffset and buf.buffer) are read-only (as are those of an ArrayBuffer or SharedArrayBuffer), there is no reason for attempting to freeze these properties.

Comparison to Object.seal()

Objects sealed with Object.seal() can have their existing properties changed. Existing properties in objects frozen with Object.freeze() are made immutable.

Examples

Freezing objects

const obj = {
  prop() {},
  foo: 'bar'
};

// Before freezing: new properties may be added,
// and existing properties may be changed or removed
obj.foo = 'baz';
obj.lumpy = 'woof';
delete obj.prop;

// Freeze.
const o = Object.freeze(obj);

// The return value is just the same object we passed in.
o === obj; // true

// The object has become frozen.
Object.isFrozen(obj); // === true

// Now any changes will fail
obj.foo = 'quux'; // silently does nothing
// silently doesn't add the property
obj.quaxxor = 'the friendly duck';

// In strict mode such attempts will throw TypeErrors
function fail() {
  'use strict';
  obj.foo = 'sparky'; // throws a TypeError
  delete obj.foo; // throws a TypeError
  delete obj.quaxxor; // returns true since attribute 'quaxxor' was never added
  obj.sparky = 'arf'; // throws a TypeError
}

fail();

// Attempted changes through Object.defineProperty;
// both statements below throw a TypeError.
Object.defineProperty(obj, 'ohai', { value: 17 });
Object.defineProperty(obj, 'foo', { value: 'eit' });

// It's also impossible to change the prototype
// both statements below will throw a TypeError.
Object.setPrototypeOf(obj, { x: 20 })
obj.__proto__ = { x: 20 }

Freezing arrays

let a = [0];
Object.freeze(a); // The array cannot be modified now.

a[0] = 1; // fails silently

// In strict mode such attempt will throw a TypeError
function fail() {
  "use strict"
  a[0] = 1;
}

fail();

// Attempted to push
a.push(2); // throws a TypeError

The object being frozen is immutable. However, it is not necessarily constant. The following example shows that a frozen object is not constant (freeze is shallow). 

const obj1 = {
  internal: {}
};

Object.freeze(obj1);
obj1.internal.a = 'aValue';

obj1.internal.a // 'aValue'

To be a constant object, the entire reference graph (direct and indirect references to other objects) must reference only immutable frozen objects. The object being frozen is said to be immutable because the entire object state (values and references to other objects) within the whole object is fixed. Note that strings, numbers, and booleans are always immutable and that Functions and Arrays are objects.

What is "shallow freeze"?

The result of calling Object.freeze(object) only applies to the immediate properties of object itself and will prevent future property addition, removal or value re-assignment operations only on object. If the value of those properties are objects themselves, those objects are not frozen and may be the target of property addition, removal or value re-assignment operations. 

const employee = {
  name: "Mayank",
  designation: "Developer",
  address: {
    street: "Rohini",
    city: "Delhi"
  }
};

Object.freeze(employee);

employee.name = "Dummy"; // fails silently in non-strict mode
employee.address.city = "Noida"; // attributes of child object can be modified

console.log(employee.address.city) // Output: "Noida"

To make an object immutable, recursively freeze each property which is of type object (deep freeze). Use the pattern on a case-by-case basis based on your design when you know the object contains no cycles in the reference graph, otherwise an endless loop will be triggered. An enhancement to deepFreeze() would be to have an internal function that receives a path (e.g. an Array) argument so you can suppress calling deepFreeze() recursively when an object is in the process of being made immutable. You still run a risk of freezing an object that shouldn't be frozen, such as [window]. 

function deepFreeze(object) {
  // Retrieve the property names defined on object
  const propNames = Object.getOwnPropertyNames(object);

  // Freeze properties before freezing self

  for (const name of propNames) {
    const value = object[name];

    if (value && typeof value === "object") {
      deepFreeze(value);
    }
  }

  return Object.freeze(object);
}

const obj2 = {
  internal: {
    a: null
  }
};

deepFreeze(obj2);

obj2.internal.a = 'anotherValue'; // fails silently in non-strict mode
obj2.internal.a; // null

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification
# sec-object.freeze

Browser compatibility

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See also