String to Integer Object hashing in JavaScript - javascript

There are multiple questions here in SO that are similar to my question, but none really answers it completely.
Basically, I want to have objects as keys in JavaScript. I know it is possible with Map, however, it doesn't fully apply to my use-case. Here is the reason:
Let's say I have two objects, var d1 = {a: 1, b: 2} and var d2 = {a: 1, b: 2}, and a Map var m = new Map(). When adding d1 to m, when I call m.get(d2) I will get undefined. I assume it is because Map works in a reference-like manner.
However, I want the following functionality:
m.set(d1, 'hit');
m.get(d2) // should return 'hit' because properties and values of d1 = d2
One approach I thought of was not to use Map, but a simple JS object. Keys would be JSON.stringify(obj) and when I want to get a value from the object, I use JSON.parse(key) and then perform object equality check (Object.getOwnPropertyNames and then checking one-by-one).
However, I feel that this approach is way more complex and time-consuming than it should be. What I am looking for is probably a hash function of some sort that would efficiently map a object with keys of type String to values of type Number (integer in my case). Also, the ordering can be different (d1 = {a: 1, b: 2} should equal d2 = {b: 2, a: 1}).
How to design an efficient hash function to work with either JS Objects/Maps to perform the above-mentioned operations?

Write a function that turns the object into a string with the keys in a consistent order.
function objToKey(obj) {
Object.keys(obj).sort().map(k => `${k}:${obj[k]}`).join(',');
}
var d1 = {a: 1, b: 2},
d2 = {b: 2, a: 1},
m = new Map();
m.set(objToKey(d1), "foo");
console.log(m.get(objToKey(d2)));

Related

Why object merges properties but array does not merges values

Can someone tell why object merges values but array does not
See the code block below:
const a = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
const b = {'b': 4, 'c': 3}
console.log({...a, ...b})
This Outputs
{ a: 1, b: 4, c: 3 }
But when I use the code below:
const c = [1,2]
const d = [2,3]
console.log([...c, ...d])
This outputs
[ 1, 2, 2, 3 ]
Why object merges properties...
It doesn't merge properties, it merges objects. Notice the value of b in your result: It's 4 (the value from the b object), not some merged value of 2 (from the a object) and 4 (from the b object). Each property from each source object is just copied into the target object (with later objects overwriting properties from earlier objects), the properties themselves are not merged together.
But fundamentally, object property spread and iterable spread are just completely different things with different purposes and different semantics, because objects and arrays are different beasts (at least conceptually; arrays actually are objects in JavaScript). Properties have names which are an intrinsic part of the property. Array elements just have indexes, and it's normal for values to be moved around an array (moved to different indexes). The two different definitions of spread are each useful for the data type they're defined for.
If you want to treat an array like an object, though, you can since arrays are objects in JavaScript. (Although in this case it isn't useful.) Here's an example (I've changed c's element values so it's clear what's coming from where):
const c = ["a", "b"];
const d = [2, 3];
console.log(Object.assign([], c, d));
In that case, since d has values for both indexes 0 and 1, none of c's elements are in the result. But:
const c = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e"];
const d = [2, 3];
console.log(Object.assign([], c, d));
Short answer
When using the spread operator, Regular Objects are ASSIGNED.
When using the spread operator, Arrays are CONCATENATED.
Long Answer
I believe the source of your confusion is that every array in JavaScript is just an object belonging to the Array constructor. So why doesn't joining two or more arrays with the spread operator work the same way as objects do?
Let's analyze what is happening in case of the Object
const a = {'a': 1, 'b': 2};
const b = {'b': 4, 'c': 3};
console.log({...a, ...b}); // Output: { a: 1, b: 4, c: 3 }
console.log(Object.assign({}, a, b)); // Output: { a: 1, b: 4, c: 3 }
console.log({...b, ...a}); // Output: { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }
console.log(Object.assign({}, b, a)); // Output: { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }
An object is a data structure holding key:value pairs.
Object assignment overwrites the keys with the latest values.
The key b occurs in more than one object and is overwritten with it's latest value. As you can see, if you change the order of the objects spread/assigned, the resulting value of the value of b changes based on the latest object having b.
Now let's come to the Array.
const c = [1,2];
const d = [2,3];
console.log([...c, ...d]); // Output: [ 1, 2, 2, 3 ]
console.log(c.concat(d)); // Output: [ 1, 2, 2, 3 ]
console.log(Object.assign({}, c, d)); // Output: { '0': 2, '1': 3 }
console.log(Object.values(Object.assign({}, c, d))); // Output: [ 2, 3 ]
An array is an object created with the Array constructor which outputs the array as a collection of the values assigned to its keys.
Array concatenation simply joins the arrays.
As you can see above, Object.assign still works on an array because the array is technically an object and it behaves exactly how Object.assign is supposed to work. The keys in this case are simply what we call "index" in an array. This is why when you do array[index] it returns the value, it's the same as object[key] that returns a value. If keys exist, the Object.assign replaces the keys/index with the latest values, else it adds the key-value pair to the object.
Conclusion:
Thus, the difference is how the spread operator works for objects and arrays.
In Objects, spread does Object.assign.
In Arrays, spread does Array concatenation => arrayA.concat(arrayB, arrayC, ...)
Bonus: Set
However, if you want the array to return only unique values, you have to use the Set data structure.
const c = [1,2];
const d = [2,3];
console.log([...new Set([...c, ...d])]); // Output: [1, 2, 3]
console.log(Array.from(new Set(a.concat(b)))); // Output: [1, 2, 3]

Map having keys as objects

The documentation on Map on mdn says
A Map's keys can be any value (including functions, objects, or any primitive).
Let's say we have
let a = new Map();
a.set({a: 1, b:3}, "Hello");
a.set({a: 1, b:3}, "World");
This produces a map with 2 elements instead of one.
How can I make the lookup of keys to be in terms of their values and not their ids?
Or alternatively, how can I make a Map where the key is a pair of unordered values?
The following is a workaround that will store things in the way you intend. Albeit, it does not use the Map class and the assigning function is not a method of any class.
set=function(a,o,v){a[[o.a,o.b].sort().join(",")]=v};
const a = {};
set(a,{a: 1, b:3}, "Hello");
set(a,{a: 3, b:1}, "World");
set(a,{a: 2, b:2}, "something else");
console.log(a)
First of all you need to understand that two object initialized with same values will never be equal to each other. Try running the following snippet.
Hence map creates two different elements with it.
var x = {a: 1, b:3};
var y = {a: 1, b:3};
var z = x;
console.log(x === y); // => false
console.log(x === z); // => true
Therefore, if you wish to group based on object as keys you will probably have to pass the objects as references as shown below:
let a = new Map();
let key = {a: 1, b:3};
a.set(key, "Hello");
a.set(key, "World");
console.log(a.get(key));
Alternatively instead of keeping track to references for each key, you can just stringify the object like so:
let a = new Map();
let key = JSON.stringify({a: 1, b:3});
a.set(key, "Hello");
a.set(key, "World");
console.log(a.get(key));

set new value for array's value using destructure

i got two noob questions about destructure an array:
1st question: when destructuring an object, I can define a new value or a new key or both. On array, can I add a new value without add a new key?
const obj = {a: undefined, b:2};
const {a = 3, b} = obj;
console.log(a); // 3
I want to know if there is a version of this but with array instead.
2nd question: is it possible to do not provide a default value for objects? Considering that I think that it is not possible to change default values using destructure.
const obj = [1, {a: 1, b:2}, 3, 4];
const [, object, three, four] = obj;
console.log(object); //{a: 1, b:2}
In this example, object returns {a: 1, b:2} but I wanted it change the value instead. Is that possible?
thanks, regards.
You are confusing default values with mutation of values, and assignment of values to variables with mutation of objects. Below is a demo of the default value feature of destructuring, with comments to explain the behavior.
You will see here that in general, destructuring is not designed for mutation of objects, but for extraction of variables and values. And hopefully also get a feel for why it would be undesirable for mutation to be mixed in to it, even if it were possible.
const obj = [1, {a: 1, b:2, 99:'z'}, ,3, 4, {mutateme: 1}];
const [, {a=3,b=4,c=5}, object={a:7,b:7},three, four, object2] = obj;
// a prop has value=1, b has value=2, c is not defined use default value 5
console.log(a,b,c,object);
//object is empty use default value={a:7,b:7}
// obj is unchanged
console.log(obj)
// mutate object2={mutateme:1} by reference (like a pointer)
object2.mutateme=7
// {mutateme: 1=>7}
console.log(obj)
// example of how you could (sort of) mutate inside a destructuring statement
// computed property, obj[1]=obj[3]=99 returns 99,
// so extract property 99 to variable z and mutate object obj at index [1] and [3] to =99
// y will 99 now.
const [y1, {[obj[1]=obj[3]=99]:z},, y2 ] = obj
console.log(y1, z, y2)
// if something similar were built into destructuring syntax,
// can you imagine how confusing it could get, and cause of all kinds of unexpected behavior?

Time-series data in JSON

I need to model 1,000,000+ data points in JSON. I am thinking of two ways of doing this:
a) Array of objects:
[{time:123456789,value:1432423},{time:123456790,value:1432424},....]
or
b) Nested arrays
[[123456789,1432423],[123456790,1432424],....]
Naively comparing these two approaches, it feels like the latter is faster because it uses less characters but less descriptive. Is b really faster than a ? Which one would you choose and why ?
Is there a 3rd approach ?
{time:[123456789,123456790,...], value:[1432423,1432424,...]}
why?
iterating over a primitive array is faster.
comparable to "JSON size" with b) but you will not lose the "column" information
this npm could be of interest: https://github.com/michaelwittig/fliptable
If your time series data models some continuous function, especially over regular time intervals, there could be much more efficient representation with delta compression, even if you are still using JSON:
[
{time:10001,value:12345},
{time:10002,value:12354},
{time:10003,value:12354},
{time:10010,value:12352}
]
Can be represented as:
[[10001,1,1,7],[12345,9,,-2]]
Which is a 4 times shorter representation.
The original could be reconstructed with:
[{time:a[0][0],value:a[1][0]},{time:a[0][0] + a[0][1]||1, value: a[1][0] + a[1][1]||0 ...
To add another example (idea: 'time is a key'):
ts1 = {123456789: 1432423, 123456790: 1432424}
One could imagine even:
ts2 = {"2017-01-01": {x: 2, y: 3}, "2017-02-01": {x: 1, y: 5}}
Quite compact in notation.
When you want to get the keys, use Object.keys:
Object.keys(ts2) // ["2017-01-01", "2017-02-01"]
You can then either get the values by iterating using these keys or use the more experimental Object.values:
Object.values(ts2) // [{x: 2, y: 3}, {x: 1, y: 5}
In terms of speed: A quick test with 10.000.000 items in an array worked here:
obj3 = {};
for(var i=0; i < 10000000; i++) {obj3[i] = Math.random()};
console.time("values() test");
Object.values(obj3);
console.timeEnd("values() test");
console.time("keys() test");
Object.keys(obj3);
console.timeEnd("keys() test");
Results at my machine (Chrome, 3.2Ghz Xeon):
values() test: 181.77978515625ms
keys() test: 1230.604736328125ms

underscore/lodash unique by multiple properties

I have an array of objects with duplicates and I'm trying to get a unique listing, where uniqueness is defined by a subset of the properties of the object. For example,
{a:"1",b:"1",c:"2"}
And I want to ignore c in the uniqueness comparison.
I can do something like
_.uniq(myArray,function(element) { return element.a + "_" + element+b});
I was hoping I could do
_.uniq(myArray,function(element) { return {a:element.a, b:element.b} });
But that doesn't work. Is there something like that I can do, or do I need to create a comparable representation of the object if I'm comparing multiple properties?
Use Lodash's uniqWith method:
_.uniqWith(array, [comparator])
This method is like _.uniq except that it accepts comparator which is invoked to compare elements of array. The order of result values is determined by the order they occur in the array. The comparator is invoked with two arguments: (arrVal, othVal).
When the comparator returns true, the items are considered duplicates and only the first occurrence will be included in the new array.
Example:
I have a list of locations with latitude and longitude coordinates -- some of which are identical -- and I want to see the list of locations with unique coordinates:
const locations = [
{
name: "Office 1",
latitude: -30,
longitude: -30
},
{
name: "Office 2",
latitude: -30,
longitude: 10
},
{
name: "Office 3",
latitude: -30,
longitude: 10
}
];
const uniqueLocations = _.uniqWith(
locations,
(locationA, locationB) =>
locationA.latitude === locationB.latitude &&
locationA.longitude === locationB.longitude
);
// Result has Office 1 and Office 2
There doesn't seem to be a straightforward way to do this, unfortunately. Short of writing your own function for this, you'll need to return something that can be directly compared for equality (as in your first example).
One method would be to just .join() the properties you need:
_.uniqBy(myArray, function(elem) { return [elem.a, elem.b].join(); });
Alternatively, you can use _.pick or _.omit to remove whatever you don't need. From there, you could use _.values with a .join(), or even just JSON.stringify:
_.uniqBy(myArray, function(elem) {
return JSON.stringify(_.pick(elem, ['a', 'b']));
});
Keep in mind that objects are not deterministic as far as property order goes, so you may want to just stick to the explicit array approach.
P.S. Replace uniqBy with uniq for Lodash < 4
Here there's the correct answer
javascript - lodash - create a unique list based on multiple attributes.
FYI var result = _.uniqBy(list, v => [v.id, v.sequence].join());
I do think that the join() approach is still the simplest. Despite concerns raised in the previous solution, I think choosing the right separator is the key to avoiding the identified pitfalls (with different value sets returning the same joined value). Keep in mind, the separator need not be a single character, it can be any string that you are confident will not occur naturally in the data itself. I do this all the time and am fond of using '~!$~' as my separator. It can also include special characters like \t\r\n etc.
If the data contained is truly that unpredictable, perhaps the max length is known and you could simply pad each element to its max length before joining.
There is a hint in #voithos and #Danail combined answer. How I solved this was to add a unique key on the objects in my array.
Starting Sample Data
const animalArray = [
{ a: 4, b: 'cat', d: 'generic' },
{ a: 5, b: 'cat', d: 'generic' },
{ a: 4, b: 'dog', d: 'generic' },
{ a: 4, b: 'cat', d: 'generic' },
];
In the example above, I want the array to be unique by a and b but right now I have two objects that have a: 4 and b: 'cat'. By combining a + b into a string I can get a unique key to check by.
{ a: 4, b: 'cat', d: 'generic', id: `${a}-${b}` }. // id is now '4-cat'
Note: You obviously need to map over the data or do this during creation of the object as you cannot reference properties of an object within the same object.
Now the comparison is simple...
_.uniqBy(animalArray, 'id');
The resulting array will be length of 3 it will have removed the last duplicate.
late to the party but I found this in lodash docs.
var objects = [{ 'x': 1, 'y': 2 }, { 'x': 2, 'y': 1 }, { 'x': 1, 'y': 2 }];
_.uniqWith(objects, _.isEqual);
// => [{ 'x': 1, 'y': 2 }, { 'x': 2, 'y': 1 }]

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