JavaScript WeapMap

WeakMap have "weak" reference to its keys. When the references to the key is lost and there are more references to the value, the value can be garbage collected.

const pokemon = { name: "Pikachu" };

const myPokemons = new WeakMap();
myPokemons.set(pokemon, 1);

// reference removed
pokemon = null;

// pokemon is removed from memory
myPokemons.has(pokemon); // false

Map vs WeakMap

• WeakMap keys must be objects and cannot be primitives.
• If an object is used in a Map, as long as the Map exists, so does that the object.
• WeakMap does not have interation methods (keys(), values(), entries()).
• You cannot check the size of a WeakMap.