The [Symbol.iterator]() method of Map instances implements the iterable protocol and allows Map objects to be consumed by most syntaxes expecting iterables, such as the spread syntax and for...of loops. It returns a map iterator object that yields the key-value pairs of the map in insertion order.

The initial value of this property is the same function object as the initial value of the Map.prototype.entries property.

Try it

const map = new Map();

map.set("0", "foo");
map.set(1, "bar");

const iterator = map[Symbol.iterator]();

for (const item of iterator) {
  console.log(item);
}
// Expected output: Array ["0", "foo"]
// Expected output: Array [1, "bar"]

Syntax

map[Symbol.iterator]()

Parameters

None.

Return value

The same return value as Map.prototype.entries(): a new iterable iterator object that yields the key-value pairs of the map.

Examples

Iteration using for...of loop

Note that you seldom need to call this method directly. The existence of the [Symbol.iterator]() method makes Map objects iterable, and iterating syntaxes like the for...of loop automatically call this method to obtain the iterator to loop over.

const myMap = new Map();
myMap.set("0", "foo");
myMap.set(1, "bar");
myMap.set({}, "baz");

for (const entry of myMap) {
  console.log(entry);
}
// ["0", "foo"]
// [1, "bar"]
// [{}, "baz"]

for (const [key, value] of myMap) {
  console.log(`${key}: ${value}`);
}
// 0: foo
// 1: bar
// [Object]: baz

Manually hand-rolling the iterator

You may still manually call the next() method of the returned iterator object to achieve maximum control over the iteration process.

const myMap = new Map();
myMap.set("0", "foo");
myMap.set(1, "bar");
myMap.set({}, "baz");

const mapIter = myMap[Symbol.iterator]();

console.log(mapIter.next().value); // ["0", "foo"]
console.log(mapIter.next().value); // [1, "bar"]
console.log(mapIter.next().value); // [Object, "baz"]

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Map
• Map.prototype.entries()
• Map.prototype.keys()
• Map.prototype.values()
• Symbol.iterator
• Iteration protocols