How to search for an object in a Javascript array, and fast!

alt-data-structure.js

var food = {
	fruit: [
		{ name: 'banana', value: 'joke fruit', type: 'fruit' },
		{ name: 'apple', value: 'newtonian legend', type: 'fruit' }
	],
	vegetables: [
		{ name: 'cabbage', value: 'filth', type: 'vegetable' },
		{ name: 'broccoli', value: 'green evil', type: 'vegetable' }
	]
};

basic-array.js

var food = [
	{ name: 'banana', value: 'joke fruit', type: 'fruit' },
	{ name: 'apple', value: 'newtonian legend', type: 'fruit' },
	{ name: 'cabbage', value: 'filth', type: 'vegetable' },
	{ name: 'broccoli', value: 'green evil', type: 'vegetable' }
];

get-food-2.js

function getFood(name, context) {
	var obj, i, il;
    
	for (i = 0, il = food[context].length; i < il; i++) {
		if (food[context][i].name == name) {
			obj = food[context][i];
			break;
		}
	}
    
	return obj;
}

get-food-3.js

function getFood(name, context) {
	var obj, i, il;
	if (context) {
		for (i = 0, il = food[context].length; i < il; i++) {
			if(food[context][i].name == name) {
				obj = food[context][i];
				break;
			}
		}
	} else {
		for (i = 0, il = food.length; i < il; i++) {
			for (j = 0, jl = food[i].length; j < jl; j++) {
				if(food[i][j].name == name) {
					obj = food[i][i];
					break;
				}
			}
			if (obj) {
				break;
			}
		}
	}
	return obj;
}

get-food-usage.js

broccoliObject = getFood('broccoli');

// Or
broccoliObject = getFood('broccoli', 'vegetable');

get-food.js

function getFood(name) {
	var obj, i, il;

	for (i = 0, il = food.length; i < il; i++) {
		if (food[i].name == name) {
			obj = food[i];
			break;
		}
	}

	return obj;
}

indexed-array-usage.js

var broccoliObject = food[foodIndex.broccoli];

indexed-array.js

var food = [
	{ key: 21, name: 'banana', value: 'joke fruit', type: 'fruit' },
	{ key: 52, name: 'apple', value: 'newtonian legend', type: 'fruit' },
	{ key: 2, name: 'cabbage', value: 'filth', type: 'vegetable' },
	{ key: 15, name: 'broccoli', value: 'green evil', type: 'vegetable' }
];

var foodIndex = {
	banana: 0,
	apple: 1,
	cabbage: 2,
	broccoli: 3
};