JavaScript object deep comparison. Comparing x === y, where x and y are values, return true or false. Comparing x === y, where x and y are objects, returns true if x and y refer to the same object. Otherwise, returns false even if the objects appear identical. Here is a solution to check if two objects are the same.

1_primitive_comparison.js

//Primitive Type Comparison
var a = 1;
var b = 1;
var c = a;

console.log(a == b);  //true
console.log(a === b); //true
console.log(a == c);  //true
console.log(a === c); //true

2_obeject_comparison.js

//Object comparison
var a = { blah: 1 };
var b = { blah: 1 };
var c = a;

console.log(a == b);    //false
console.log(a === b);   //false
console.log(a == c);	  //true
console.log(a === c);   //true

object.compare.js

//How To Compare Object Values
var a = { blah: 1 };
var b = { blah: 1 };
var c = a;
var d = { blah: 2 };

Object.compare = function (obj1, obj2) {
	//Loop through properties in object 1
	for (var p in obj1) {
		//Check property exists on both objects
		if (obj1.hasOwnProperty(p) !== obj2.hasOwnProperty(p)) return false;
 
		switch (typeof (obj1[p])) {
			//Deep compare objects
			case 'object':
				if (!Object.compare(obj1[p], obj2[p])) return false;
				break;
			//Compare function code
			case 'function':
				if (typeof (obj2[p]) == 'undefined' || (p != 'compare' && obj1[p].toString() != obj2[p].toString())) return false;
				break;
			//Compare values
			default:
				if (obj1[p] != obj2[p]) return false;
		}
	}
 
	//Check object 2 for any extra properties
	for (var p in obj2) {
		if (typeof (obj1[p]) == 'undefined') return false;
	}
	return true;
};

console.log(Object.compare(a, b));  //true
console.log(Object.compare(a, c));  //true
console.log(Object.compare(a, d));  //false

I understood JSON.stringify() is not very performant, and misses if child objects are in a different order.

I've updated the initial code to support arrays (order should be respected), and also 'null vs {}' checks.

No warranties on the code ;)

function compare (obj1, obj2) {

        //check type at start
        if (typeof (obj1) !== typeof (obj2)) return false;
        if (Array.isArray(obj1) !== Array.isArray(obj2)) return false;

        //case no children
        if (obj1 && Object.keys(obj1).length === 0) return (obj1 === obj2);
        if (obj1 == null) return (obj1 === obj2); //case if obj1 is nullish

        //in case of an array
        if (Array.isArray(obj1)) {
            for (let i = 0; i < obj1.length; i++) {
                if (!compare(obj1[i], obj2[i])) return false;
            }

            return true;
        } else {

            //general object case
            //Loop through properties in object 1
            for (var p in obj1) {
                //Check property exists on both objects
                if (obj1.hasOwnProperty(p) !== obj2.hasOwnProperty(p)) return false;

                switch (typeof (obj1[p])) {
                    //Deep compare objects
                    case 'object':
                        if (!compare(obj1[p], obj2[p])) return false;
                        break;
                    //Compare function code
                    case 'function':
                        if (typeof (obj2[p]) == 'undefined' || (p != 'compare' && obj1[p].toString() != obj2[p].toString())) return false;
                        break;
                    //Compare values
                    default:
                        if (obj1[p] !== obj2[p]) return false;
                }
            }

            //Check object 2 for any extra properties
            for (var p in obj2) {
                if (typeof (obj1[p]) == 'undefined') return false;
            }

            return true;
        }
};

function ObjectCompare(obj1, obj2) {
     return !( obj1 < obj2 || obj1 > obj2);
}

Worked for me

@edwinro Thx for you compare() code. I have found a couple of issues:

// case no children
if (obj1 && Object.keys(obj1).length === 0) return (obj1 === obj2);

does not work correctly. ex.

const obj1 = {}, obj2 = {}
console.log( obj1 === obj2 )  - false

Changed to: return Object.keys( obj2 ).length === 0 fixes this.

Next:

// case if obj1 is nullish
if (obj1 == null) return (obj1 === obj2); 

fails for const obj1 = null, obj2 = undefined

Changed to: return (obj1 == obj2); fixes this. ie. Double equals vs triple equals.

Next:

            //Check object 2 for any extra properties
            for (var p in obj2) {
                if (typeof (obj1[p]) == 'undefined') return false;
            }

does not work correctly if obj2[p] is also undefined:
Fix is to change: if (typeof (obj1[p]) == 'undefined') return false; to if ( obj1[p] === undefined && obj1[2] !== undefined ) return false;

@clibu thank you for your corrections.

Updated thanks to your remarks

    function compare (obj1, obj2) {

        //check type at start
        if (typeof (obj1) !== typeof (obj2)) return false;
        if (Array.isArray(obj1) !== Array.isArray(obj2)) return false;

        //case no children
        if (obj1 && Object.keys(obj1).length === 0) return (Object.keys( obj2 ).length === 0);
        if (obj1 == null) return (obj1 === obj2); //case if obj1 is nullish

        //in case of an array
        if (Array.isArray(obj1)) {
            for (let i = 0; i < obj1.length; i++) {
                if (!compare(obj1[i], obj2[i])) return false;
            }

            return true;
        } else {

            //general object case
            //Loop through properties in object 1
            for (var p in obj1) {
                //Check property exists on both objects
                if (obj1.hasOwnProperty(p) !== obj2.hasOwnProperty(p)) return false;

                switch (typeof (obj1[p])) {
                    //Deep compare objects
                    case 'object':
                        if (!compare(obj1[p], obj2[p])) return false;
                        break;
                    //Compare function code
                    case 'function':
                        if (typeof (obj2[p]) == 'undefined' || (p != 'compare' && obj1[p].toString() != obj2[p].toString())) return false;
                        break;
                    //Compare values
                    default:
                        if (obj1[p] !== obj2[p]) return false;
                }
            }

            //Check object 2 for any extra properties
            for (var p in obj2) {
                        if ( obj1[p] === undefined && obj2[p] !== undefined ) return false;
            }

            return true;
        }
};

@edwinro Thanks for the update. I snuck in an edit re. an issue with the nullish test which you understandably missed. ie. == vs ===

@edwinro Thanks for the update. I snuck in an edit re. an issue with the nullish test which you understandably missed. ie. == vs ===

@clibu thanks. The if (typeof (obj1) !== typeof (obj2)) return false; catches already the case where obj 1= null and obj2 = undefined. The if statement then returns false.

typeof (null) !== typeof (undefined)
true

The question is , do you want to let the compare function return false if one object is undefined and the other is null? I take the assumption one does indeed wants to detect this difference. ( undefined means a variable has been declared but has not yet been assigned a value, whereas null is an assignment value).

If not, your code suggestion can be applied, but should be put as a first line. Also, the last check if ( obj1[p] === undefined && obj2[p] !== undefined ) return false; would then be replace by if ( obj1[p] === undefined && obj2[p] != undefined ) return false; to also account for null children vs undefined children.

@edwinro I had picked up on the if (typeof (obj1) !== typeof (obj2)) return false; handling this and I agree that is what you'd want.

The nullish comment threw me as nullish means null or undefined. I'm not sure why this test is there?

FYI I'm in Australia, a bit of a time difference. 😀

will fail for dates as the value of any object

let a = { x : new Date() };
let b = { x : new Date('some-different-date') };

console.log(Object.compare(a, b));  // true --> but actually it should false

Here's what I've used over the years - easy to modify for special cases if you need to (i.e. if you want to insert a different compare for functions, etc.):

/**
 Compares two items (values or references) for nested equivalency, meaning that
 at root and at each key or index they are equivalent as follows:

 - If a value type, values are either hard equal (===) or are both NaN
     (different than JS where NaN !== NaN)
 - If functions, they are the same function instance or have the same value
     when converted to string via `toString()`
 - If Date objects, both have the same getTime() or are both NaN (invalid)
 - If arrays, both are same length, and all contained values areEquivalent
     recursively - only contents by numeric key are checked
 - If other object types, enumerable keys are the same (the keys themselves)
     and values at every key areEquivalent recursively

 Author: Dathan Liblik

 License: Free to use anywhere by anyone, as-is, no guarantees of any kind.

 @param value1 First item to compare
 @param value2 Other item to compare
 @param stack Used internally to track circular refs - don't set it
 */
export function areEquivalent(value1, value2, stack=[]) {
  // Numbers, strings, null, undefined, symbols, functions, booleans.
  // Also: objects (incl. arrays) that are actually the same instance
  if (value1 === value2) {
    // Fast and done
    return true;
  }

  const type1 = typeof value1;

  // Ensure types match
  if (type1 !== typeof value2) {
    return false;
  }

  // Special case for number: check for NaN on both sides
  // (only way they can still be equivalent but not equal)
  if (type1 === 'number') {
    // Failed initial equals test, but could still both be NaN
    return (isNaN(value1) && isNaN(value2));
  }

  // Special case for function: check for toString() equivalence
  if (type1 === 'function') {
    // Failed initial equals test, but could still have equivalent
    // implementations - note, will match on functions that have same name
    // and are native code: `function abc() { [native code] }`
    return value1.toString() === value2.toString();
  }

  // For these types, cannot still be equal at this point, so fast-fail
  if (type1 === 'bigint' || type1 === 'boolean' ||
    type1 === 'function' || type1 === 'string' ||
    type1 === 'symbol')
  {
    return false;
  }

  // For dates, cast to number and ensure equal or both NaN (note, if same
  // exact instance then we're not here - that was checked above)
  if (value1 instanceof Date) {
    if (!(value2 instanceof Date)) {
      return false;
    }
    // Convert to number to compare
    const asNum1 = +value1, asNum2 = +value2;
    // Check if both invalid (NaN) or are same value
    return asNum1 === asNum2 || (isNaN(asNum1) && isNaN(asNum2));
  }

  // At this point, it's a reference type and could be circular, so
  // make sure we haven't been here before... note we only need to track value1
  // since value1 being un-circular means value2 will either be equal (and not
  // circular too) or unequal whether circular or not.
  if (stack.includes(value1)) {
    throw new Error(`areEquivalent value1 is circular`);
  }

  // breadcrumb
  stack.push(value1);

  // Handle arrays
  if (Array.isArray(value1)) {
    if (!Array.isArray(value2)) {
      return false;
    }

    const length = value1.length;

    if (length !== value2.length) {
      return false;
    }

    for (let i=0; i < length; i++) {
      if (!areEquivalent(value1[i], value2[i], stack)) {
        return false;
      }
    }
    return true;
  }

  // Final case: object

  // get both key lists and check length
  const keys1 = Object.keys(value1);
  const keys2 = Object.keys(value2);
  const numKeys = keys1.length;

  if (keys2.length !== numKeys) {
    return false;
  }

  // Empty object on both sides?
  if (numKeys === 0) {
    return true;
  }

  // sort is a native call so it's very fast - much faster than comparing the
  // values at each key if it can be avoided, so do the sort and then
  // ensure every key matches at every index
  keys1.sort();
  keys2.sort();

  // Ensure perfect match across all keys
  for(let i = 0; i < numKeys; i++) {
    if (keys1[i] !== keys2[i]) {
      return false;
    }
  }

  // Ensure perfect match across all values
  for(let i = 0; i < numKeys; i++) {
    if (!areEquivalent(value1[keys1[i]], value2[keys1[i]], stack)) {
      return false;
    }
  }

  // back up
  stack.pop();

  // Walk the same, talk the same - matching ducks. Quack.
  // 🦆🦆
  return true;
}

+1 like on the solution of @DLiblik posted above, which also covers dates and functions. Maybe post it in a separate github repository so it can be found more easily?

Always glad to see this old thing created in 2013 has got people talking and learning from each other.

Best implementation that I have seen so far is in rambda's "equals" function.

The only thing that I think can be improved (although, I am not sure that this is the right direction) is when both arguments have a "function" type, we could convert the source code to strings and compare them...

Here is the code (I simply put everything into 1 file) from their source:

const _isArray = Array.isArray;

function type(input) {
  const typeOf = typeof input;

  if (input === null) {
    return "Null";
  } else if (input === undefined) {
    return "Undefined";
  } else if (typeOf === "boolean") {
    return "Boolean";
  } else if (typeOf === "number") {
    return Number.isNaN(input) ? "NaN" : "Number";
  } else if (typeOf === "string") {
    return "String";
  } else if (_isArray(input)) {
    return "Array";
  } else if (typeOf === "symbol") {
    return "Symbol";
  } else if (input instanceof RegExp) {
    return "RegExp";
  }

  const asStr = input && input.toString ? input.toString() : "";

  if (["true", "false"].includes(asStr)) return "Boolean";
  if (!Number.isNaN(Number(asStr))) return "Number";
  if (asStr.startsWith("async")) return "Async";
  if (asStr === "[object Promise]") return "Promise";
  if (typeOf === "function") return "Function";
  if (input instanceof String) return "String";

  return "Object";
}

function parseError(maybeError) {
  const typeofError = maybeError.__proto__.toString();
  if (!["Error", "TypeError"].includes(typeofError)) return [];

  return [typeofError, maybeError.message];
}

function parseDate(maybeDate) {
  if (!maybeDate.toDateString) return [false];

  return [true, maybeDate.getTime()];
}

function parseRegex(maybeRegex) {
  if (maybeRegex.constructor !== RegExp) return [false];

  return [true, maybeRegex.toString()];
}


// main function is here
function equals(a, b) {
  if (arguments.length === 1) return (_b) => equals(a, _b);

  const aType = type(a);
  if (aType !== type(b)) return false;
  if (aType === "Function") {
    return a.name === undefined ? false : a.name === b.name;
  }

  if (["NaN", "Undefined", "Null"].includes(aType)) return true;

  if (aType === "Number") {
    if (Object.is(-0, a) !== Object.is(-0, b)) return false;

    return a.toString() === b.toString();
  }

  if (["String", "Boolean"].includes(aType)) {
    return a.toString() === b.toString();
  }

  if (aType === "Array") {
    const aClone = Array.from(a);
    const bClone = Array.from(b);

    if (aClone.toString() !== bClone.toString()) {
      return false;
    }

    let loopArrayFlag = true;
    aClone.forEach((aCloneInstance, aCloneIndex) => {
      if (loopArrayFlag) {
        if (
          aCloneInstance !== bClone[aCloneIndex] &&
          !equals(aCloneInstance, bClone[aCloneIndex])
        ) {
          loopArrayFlag = false;
        }
      }
    });

    return loopArrayFlag;
  }

  const aRegex = parseRegex(a);
  const bRegex = parseRegex(b);

  if (aRegex[0]) {
    return bRegex[0] ? aRegex[1] === bRegex[1] : false;
  } else if (bRegex[0]) return false;

  const aDate = parseDate(a);
  const bDate = parseDate(b);

  if (aDate[0]) {
    return bDate[0] ? aDate[1] === bDate[1] : false;
  } else if (bDate[0]) return false;

  const aError = parseError(a);
  const bError = parseError(b);

  if (aError[0]) {
    return bError[0]
      ? aError[0] === bError[0] && aError[1] === bError[1]
      : false;
  }

  if (aType === "Object") {
    const aKeys = Object.keys(a);

    if (aKeys.length !== Object.keys(b).length) {
      return false;
    }

    let loopObjectFlag = true;
    aKeys.forEach((aKeyInstance) => {
      if (loopObjectFlag) {
        const aValue = a[aKeyInstance];
        const bValue = b[aKeyInstance];

        if (aValue !== bValue && !equals(aValue, bValue)) {
          loopObjectFlag = false;
        }
      }
    });

    return loopObjectFlag;
  }

  return false;
}

module.exports = equals;

+1 like on the solution of @DLiblik posted above, which also covers dates and functions. Maybe post it in a separate github repository so it can be found more easily?

@edwinro - done - find the gist here: areEquivalent.js

Covers most cases (including the order of the key property if present)

function isEqual(obj1, obj2) {
  function getType(obj) {
    return Object.prototype.toString.call(obj).slice(8, -1).toLowerCase();
  }

  let type = getType(obj1);

  // If the two items are not the same type, return false
  if (type !== getType(obj2)) return false;
  if (type === "array") return areArraysEqual();
  if (type === "object") return areObjectsEqual();
  if (type === "function") return areFunctionsEqual();

  function areArraysEqual() {
    // Check length
    if (obj1.length !== obj2.length) return false;
    // Check each item in the array
    for (let i = 0; i < obj1.length; i++) {
      if (!isEqual(obj1[i], obj2[i])) return false;
    }
    // If no errors, return true
    return true;
  }
  function areObjectsEqual() {
    if (Object.keys(obj1).length !== Object.keys(obj2).length) return false;
    // Check each item in the object
    for (let key in obj1) {
      if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj1, key)) {
        if (!isEqual(obj1[key], obj2[key])) return false;
      }
    }
    // If no errors, return true
    return true;
  }
  function areFunctionsEqual() {
    return obj1.toString() === obj2.toString();
  }
  function arePrimativesEqual() {
    return obj1 === obj2;
  }
  return arePrimativesEqual();
}