How to loop through a plain JavaScript object with the objects as members?

Under ECMAScript 5, you can combine Object.keys() and Array.prototype.forEach():

var obj = {
  first: "John",
  last: "Doe"
};

//
// Visit non-inherited enumerable keys
//
Object.keys(obj).forEach(function(key) {

  console.log(key, obj[key]);

});

The problem with this

for (var key in validation_messages) {
   var obj = validation_messages[key];
   for (var prop in obj) {
      alert(prop + " = " + obj[prop]);
   }
}

is that you’ll also loop through the primitive object's prototype.

With this one you will avoid it:

for (var key in validation_messages) {
   if (validation_messages.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
      var obj = validation_messages[key];
      for (var prop in obj) {
         if (obj.hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
            alert(prop + " = " + obj[prop]);
         }
      }
   }
}

In ES6/2015 you can loop through an object like this: (using arrow function)

Object.keys(myObj).forEach(key => {
  console.log(key);        // the name of the current key.
  console.log(myObj[key]); // the value of the current key.
});

jsbin

In ES7/2016 you can use Object.entries instead of Object.keys and loop through an object like this:

Object.entries(myObj).forEach(([key, val]) => {
  console.log(key); // the name of the current key.
  console.log(val); // the value of the current key.
});

The above would also work as a one-liner:

Object.entries(myObj).forEach(([key, val]) => console.log(key, val));

jsbin

In case you want to loop through nested objects as well, you can use a recursive function (ES6):

const loopNestedObj = obj => {
  Object.keys(obj).forEach(key => {
    if (obj[key] && typeof obj[key] === "object") loopNestedObj(obj[key]); // recurse.
    else console.log(key, obj[key]); // or do something with key and val.
  });
};

jsbin

Same as function above, but with ES7 Object.entries() instead of Object.keys():

const loopNestedObj = obj => {
  Object.entries(obj).forEach(([key, val]) => {
    if (val && typeof val === "object") loopNestedObj(val); // recurse.
    else console.log(key, val); // or do something with key and val.
  });
};

Here we loop through nested objects change values and return a new object in one go using Object.entries() combined with Object.fromEntries() (ES10/2019):

const loopNestedObj = obj =>
  Object.fromEntries(
    Object.entries(obj).map(([key, val]) => {
      if (val && typeof val === "object") [key, loopNestedObj(val)]; // recurse
      else [key, updateMyVal(val)]; // or do something with key and val.
    })
  );

Using Underscore.js’s _.each:

_.each(validation_messages, function(value, key){
    _.each(value, function(value, key){
        console.log(value);
    });
});

If you use recursion you can return object properties of any depth-

function lookdeep(object){
    var collection= [], index= 0, next, item;
    for(item in object){
        if(object.hasOwnProperty(item)){
            next= object[item];
            if(typeof next== 'object' && next!= null){
                collection[index++]= item +
                ':{ '+ lookdeep(next).join(', ')+'}';
            }
            else collection[index++]= [item+':'+String(next)];
        }
    }
    return collection;
}

//example

var O={
    a:1, b:2, c:{
        c1:3, c2:4, c3:{
            t:true, f:false
        }
    },
    d:11
};
var lookdeepSample= 'O={'+ lookdeep(O).join(',\n')+'}';


/*  returned value: (String)
O={
    a:1, 
    b:2, 
    c:{
        c1:3, c2:4, c3:{
            t:true, f:false
        }
    },
    d:11
}

*/