passing empty object to wp_localize_script will convert it to empty array instead of empty object

[erikdemarco]

This will correctly converted to js object:

wp_localize_script( $handle, $object_name, array(

    "foo" => "Foo value",
    "bar" => "Bar value"

) );

the value will be:

{"foo":"Foo value","bar":"Bar value"}

But passing empty array will be converted to js empty array:

wp_localize_script( $handle, $object_name, array() );

the value will be:

[]

We want to pass empty array because we want to prepare the global js variable to be used later. But because of the inconsistency it can cause problem if we want to loop it for later use. since we use different method to loop object and array in javascript.

[swissspidy]

Related: #25280

The recommend approach is to use wp_add_inline_script() for this use case.