What's the quickest way to assign a variables based on an array?

Question

What's the quickest way, from a readability/typing standpoint, to assign a value to a specific variable based on a related variable?

var abbrev;

if(state=='Pennsylvania'){
    abbrev='PA';
}else if(state=='New Jersey'){
    abbrev='NJ';
}else if(state=='Delaware'){
    abbrev='DE';
}
//and so on...

I'm trying to avoid making one array for the state name and a another array for the abbreviation because the relationship is lost with separate declarations.

Answer 1

You could use an object for the abbreviation, like

var abbreviations = {
        'Pennsylvania': 'PA',
        'New Jersey': 'NJ',
        'Delaware': 'DE'
    };

Usage:

abbrev = abbreviations[state];

Answer 2

just a suggestion, have you tried using CASE? it looks more clean and readable