Skip to content

How to destructure an object to an already defined variable

New Course Coming Soon:

Get Really Good at Git

I had the need to assign the result of a function call to a variable already defined. The function returned an object:

function test() {
	return {
		one: 1,
		two: 2
	}
}

I thought I’ll just use object destructing, like this:

const { one, two } = test()

But I had two already defined in my code (because of scoping issues) and I couldn’t redeclare it:

let two

//...

const { one, two } = test() //ERROR

Simple way would be to have

const result = test()

two = result.two
const { one } = result

Or, I could also declare one as let and use this syntax with parentheses (adding ; before them to prevent JS to freak out because I don’t use semicolons, any line starting with ( must start with a semicolon, simple rule)

let one, two

;({ one, two } = test())
Are you intimidated by Git? Can’t figure out merge vs rebase? Are you afraid of screwing up something any time you have to do something in Git? Do you rely on ChatGPT or random people’s answer on StackOverflow to fix your problems? Your coworkers are tired of explaining Git to you all the time? Git is something we all need to use, but few of us really master it. I created this course to improve your Git (and GitHub) knowledge at a radical level. A course that helps you feel less frustrated with Git. Launching Summer 2024. Join the waiting list!
→ Get my JavaScript Beginner's Handbook
→ Read my JavaScript Tutorials on The Valley of Code
→ Read my TypeScript Tutorial on The Valley of Code

Here is how can I help you: