This question already has answers here:
In Javascript, how do I check if an array has duplicate values?
(9 answers)
Closed 10 months ago.
I wanted to write a javascript function which checks if array contains duplicate values or not.
I have written the following code but its giving answer as "true" always.
Can anybody please tell me what am I missing.
function checkIfArrayIsUnique(myArray)
{
for (var i = 0; i < myArray.length; i++)
{
for (var j = 0; j < myArray.length; j++)
{
if (i != j)
{
if (myArray[i] == myArray[j])
{
return true; // means there are duplicate values
}
}
}
}
return false; // means there are no duplicate values.
}
An easy solution, if you've got ES6, uses Set:
function checkIfArrayIsUnique(myArray) {
return myArray.length === new Set(myArray).size;
}
let uniqueArray = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
console.log(`${uniqueArray} is unique : ${checkIfArrayIsUnique(uniqueArray)}`);
let nonUniqueArray = [1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
console.log(`${nonUniqueArray} is unique : ${checkIfArrayIsUnique(nonUniqueArray)}`);
let arr = [11,22,11,22];
let hasDuplicate = arr.some((val, i) => arr.indexOf(val) !== i);
// hasDuplicate = true
True -> array has duplicates
False -> uniqe array
This should work with only one loop:
function checkIfArrayIsUnique(arr) {
var map = {}, i, size;
for (i = 0, size = arr.length; i < size; i++){
if (map[arr[i]]){
return false;
}
map[arr[i]] = true;
}
return true;
}
You got the return values the wrong way round:
As soon as you find two values that are equal, you can conclude that the array is not unique and return false.
At the very end, after you've checked all the pairs, you can return true.
If you do this a lot, and the arrays are large, you might want to investigate the possibility of sorting the array and then only comparing adjacent elements. This will have better asymptotic complexity than your current method.
Assuming you're targeting browsers that aren't IE8,
this would work as well:
function checkIfArrayIsUnique(myArray)
{
for (var i = 0; i < myArray.length; i++)
{
if (myArray.indexOf(myArray[i]) !== myArray.lastIndexOf(myArray[i])) {
return false;
}
}
return true; // this means not unique
}
Here's an O(n) solution:
function hasDupes(arr) {
/* temporary object */
var uniqOb = {};
/* create object attribute with name=value in array, this will not keep dupes*/
for (var i in arr)
uniqOb[arr[i]] = "";
/* if object's attributes match array, then no dupes! */
if (arr.length == Object.keys(uniqOb).length)
alert('NO dupes');
else
alert('HAS dupes');
}
var arr = ["1/1/2016", "1/1/2016", "2/1/2016"];
hasDupes(arr);
https://jsfiddle.net/7kkgy1j3/
Another solution:
Array.prototype.checkIfArrayIsUnique = function() {
this.sort();
for ( var i = 1; i < this.length; i++ ){
if(this[i-1] == this[i])
return false;
}
return true;
}
function hasNoDuplicates(arr) {
return arr.every(num => arr.indexOf(num) === arr.lastIndexOf(num));
}
hasNoDuplicates accepts an array and returns true if there are no duplicate values. If there are any duplicates, the function returns false.
Without a for loop, only using Map().
You can also return the duplicates.
(function(a){
let map = new Map();
a.forEach(e => {
if(map.has(e)) {
let count = map.get(e);
console.log(count)
map.set(e, count + 1);
} else {
map.set(e, 1);
}
});
let hasDup = false;
let dups = [];
map.forEach((value, key) => {
if(value > 1) {
hasDup = true;
dups.push(key);
}
});
console.log(dups);
return hasDup;
})([2,4,6,2,1,4]);
Late answer but can be helpful
function areThereDuplicates(args) {
let count = {};
for(let i = 0; i < args.length; i++){
count[args[i]] = 1 + (count[args[i]] || 0);
}
let found = Object.keys(count).filter(function(key) {
return count[key] > 1;
});
return found.length ? true : false;
}
areThereDuplicates([1,2,5]);
The code given in the question can be better written as follows
function checkIfArrayIsUnique(myArray)
{
for (var i = 0; i < myArray.length; i++)
{
for (var j = i+1; j < myArray.length; j++)
{
if (myArray[i] == myArray[j])
{
return true; // means there are duplicate values
}
}
}
return false; // means there are no duplicate values.
}
Returns the duplicate item in array and creates a new array with no duplicates:
var a = ["hello", "hi", "hi", "juice", "juice", "test"];
var b = ["ding", "dong", "hi", "juice", "juice", "test"];
var c = a.concat(b);
var dupClearArr = [];
function dupArray(arr) {
for (i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if (arr.indexOf(arr[i]) != i && arr.indexOf(arr[i]) != -1) {
console.log('duplicate item ' + arr[i]);
} else {
dupClearArr.push(arr[i])
}
}
console.log('actual array \n' + arr + ' \nno duplicate items array \n' + dupClearArr)
}
dupArray(c);
const containsMatches = (a1, a2) => a1.some((v) => a2.includes(v));
If your array nests other arrays/objects, using the Set approach may not be what you want since comparing two objects compares their references. If you want to check that their contained values are equal, something else is needed. Here are a couple different approaches.
Approach 1: Map using JSON.stringify for keys
If you want to consider objects with the same contained values as equal, here's one simple way to do it using a Map object. It uses JSON.stringify to make a unique id for each element in the array.
I believe the runtime of this would be O(n * m) on arrays, assuming JSON.stringify serializes in linear time. n is the length of the outer array, m is size of the arrays. If the objects get very large, however, this may slow down since the keys will be very long. Not a very space-efficient implementation, but it is simple and works for many data types.
function checkArrayDupeFree(myArray, idFunc) {
const dupeMap = new Map();
for (const el of myArray) {
const id = idFunc(el);
if (dupeMap.has(id))
return false;
dupeMap.set(id, el);
}
return true;
}
const notUnique = [ [1, 2], [1, 3], [1, 2] ];
console.log(`${JSON.stringify(notUnique)} has no duplicates? ${checkArrayDupeFree(notUnique, JSON.stringify)}`);
const unique = [ [2, 1], [1, 3], [1, 2] ];
console.log(`${JSON.stringify(unique)} has no duplicates? ${checkArrayDupeFree(unique, JSON.stringify)}`);
Of course, you could also write your own id-generator function, though I'm not sure you can do much better than JSON.stringify.
Approach 2: Custom HashMap, Hashcode, and Equality implementations
If you have a lot of big arrays, it may be better performance-wise to implement your own hash/equality functions and use a Map as a HashMap.
In the following implementation, we hash the array. If there is a collision, map a key to an array of collided values, and check to see if any of the array values match according to the equality function.
The downside of this approach is that you may have to consider a wide range of types for which to make hashcode/equality functions, depending on what's in the array.
function checkArrayDupeFreeWHashes(myArray, hashFunc, eqFunc) {
const hashMap = new Map();
for (const el of myArray) {
const hash = hashFunc(el);
const hit = hashMap.get(hash);
if (hit == null)
hashMap.set(hash, [el]);
else if (hit.some(v => eqFunc(v, el)))
return false;
else
hit.push(el);
}
return true;
}
Here's a demo of the custom HashMap in action. I implemented a hashing function and an equality function for arrays of arrays.
function checkArrayDupeFreeWHashes(myArray, hashFunc, eqFunc) {
const hashMap = new Map();
for (const el of myArray) {
const hash = hashFunc(el);
const hit = hashMap.get(hash);
if (hit == null)
hashMap.set(hash, [el]);
else if (hit.some(v => eqFunc(v, el)))
return false;
else
hit.push(el);
}
return true;
}
function arrayHasher(arr) {
let hash = 19;
for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
const el = arr[i];
const toHash = Array.isArray(el)
? arrayHasher(el)
: el * 23;
hash = hash * 31 + toHash;
}
return hash;
}
function arrayEq(a, b) {
if (a.length != b.length)
return false;
for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
if ((Array.isArray(a) || Array.isArray(b)) && !arrayEq(a[i], b[i]))
return false;
else if (a[i] !== b[i])
return false;
}
return true;
}
const notUnique = [ [1, 2], [1, 3], [1, 2] ];
const unique = [ [2, 1], [1, 3], [1, 2] ];
console.log(`${JSON.stringify(notUnique)} has no duplicates? ${checkArrayDupeFreeWHashes(notUnique, arrayHasher, arrayEq)}`);
console.log(`${JSON.stringify(unique)} has no duplicates? ${checkArrayDupeFreeWHashes(unique, arrayHasher, arrayEq)}`);
function checkIfArrayIsUnique(myArray)
{
isUnique=true
for (var i = 0; i < myArray.length; i++)
{
for (var j = 0; j < myArray.length; j++)
{
if (i != j)
{
if (myArray[i] == myArray[j])
{
isUnique=false
}
}
}
}
return isUnique;
}
This assume that the array is unique at the start.
If find two equals values, then change to false
i think this is the simple way
$(document).ready(function() {
var arr = [1,2,3,9,6,5,6];
console.log( "result =>"+ if_duplicate_value (arr));
});
function if_duplicate_value (arr){
for(i=0;i<arr.length-1;i++){
for(j=i+1;j<arr.length;j++){
if(arr[i]==arr[j]){
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
var c=[2,2,3,3,5,5,4,4,8,8];
for(var i=0; i<b.length; i++){
for(var j=i+1; j<b.length; j++){
if(c[i]==c[j]){
console.log(c[j]);
}
}
}
Related
I'm trying to practice for an interview and found a challenge online to write a function that will take an array of numbers and only return values that exist just once in the array, and return those values in order. For example, the array [1, 3, 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 6] should return [4, 5].
I have a script that is passing the tests but for some of the tests is running too slow. Am I going about this wrong? Is there some fundamental way to speed this up? The script starts with findTheNumbers, and a is the array input:
function findTheNumbers(a) {
var retVal = [];
var nonUnique = [];
for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++){
var isUnique = true;
if (i != 0){
for (var j = 0; j < nonUnique.length; j++){
if (a[i] == nonUnique[j]){
isUnique = false;
break;
}
}
}
if (isUnique){
for (var k = 0; k < a.length; k++){
if (a[i] == a[k] && i != k){
isUnique = false;
nonUnique.push(a[i]);
break;
}
}
}
if (isUnique){
retVal.push(a[i]);
if (retVal.length == 2){
break;
}
}
}
retVal = sortArrayOfLengthOfTwo(retVal);
return retVal;
}
function sortArrayOfLengthOfTwo(array){
var retVal = [];
if (array[0] > array[1]){
retVal.push(array[1]);
retVal.push(array[0]);
} else {
retVal = array;
}
return retVal;
}
UPDATE -
Not sure where the best place for this is, but here is my new version based on the accepted answer's hints (which worked SO much faster):
function findTheNumbers(a) {
var retVal = [];
var dict = {};
for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++){
dict[a[i]] = 1 + (dict[a[i]] || 0);
}
for (var key in dict){
if (dict[key] == 1){
retVal.push(parseInt(key));
}
}
return retVal;
}
When a program is too slow, the rule of thumb is to
first blame your algorithm
next blame your implementation (edit: as suggested by Bergi)
finally blame the language
In your case, you parse the whole array n times, that is, the complexity is o(n^2). You can do the same with only one full parse, and a dictionary of the count for each element.
Edit about your new algorithm
Your new algorithm is very good. For the sake of your interview I have some comments:
instead of var, you should consider using const as much as possible, and let otherwise
do not hesitate to put intermediate results within variables
use more descriptive names for your variables
Here's the way I would implement it:
function findTheUniqueNumbers(a) {
const numberCounts = {} // I prefer "new Map()" on recent env.
a.forEach( function(e) {
const previousCount = numberCounts[e] || 0
numberCounts[e] = previousCount + 1
} )
return Object.keys(numberCounts)
.filter( function(e) {
return numberCounts[e] === 1
} )
}
const uniqueNumber = findTheUniqueNumbers([1, 3, 5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 6])
console.log(uniqueNumber)
I have a question . How do you retrieve elements that has no double value in an array?? For example: [1,1,2,2,3,4,4,5] then you retrieve [3,5] only.
Thanks in advance
for (var j = 0; j < newArr.length; j++) {
if ((arr1.indexOf(newArr[j]) === 0) && (arr2.indexOf(newArr[j]) === 0)) {
index = newArr.indexOf(j); newArr.splice(index, 1);
}
}
If the item in the array is unique then the index found from the beginning should equal the index found from the end, in other words:
var xs = [1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5];
var result = xs.filter(function(x) {
return xs.indexOf(x) === xs.lastIndexOf(x);
});
console.log(result); //=> [3, 5]
sorry for the presentation its my first post !
You have to compare each element of your array to the others in order to get the number of occurence of each element
var tab = [1,1,2,2,3,4,4,5] //The array to analyze
tab = tab.sort(); // we sort the array
show(tab); // we display the array to the console (F12 to open it)
var uniqueElementTab = []; // this array will contain all single occurence
var sameElementCounter = 0;
for(x=0;x<tab.length;x++){ // for all element in the array
sameElementCounter = 0;
for(y=0;y<tab.length;y++){ // we compare it to the others
if((tab[x]==tab[y])){
sameElementCounter+=1; // +1 each time we meet the element elsewhere
}
}
if(sameElementCounter<=1){
uniqueElementTab.push(tab[x]); //if the element is unique we add it to a new array
}
}
show(uniqueElementTab); // display result
function show(tab) { // Simple function to display the content of an array
var st="";
for(i=0;i<tab.length;i++){
st += tab[i]+" ";
}
console.log(st+"\n");
}
Hope it helps.
Here is a simple "tricky" solution using Array.sort, Array.join, Array.map, String.replace and String.split functions:
var arr = [1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5];
arr.sort();
var unique = arr.join("").replace(/(\d)\1+/g, "").split("").map(Number);
console.log(unique); // [3, 5]
create new array tmp,and check already value exist by indexOf .If existed delete by splice function..
var arr = [1,1,2,2,3,4,4,5];
var tmp = [];
var dup = [];
for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
var ind = tmp.indexOf(arr[i]);
if(ind == -1){
if(dup.indexOf(arr[i]) == -1){
tmp.push(arr[i]);
}
}
else{
tmp.splice(ind,1);
dup.push(arr[i]);
}
}
console.log(tmp);
This would be my way of doing this job.
var arr = [1,1,2,2,3,4,4,5],
uniques = Object.keys(arr.reduce((p,c) => (c in p ? Object.defineProperty(p, c, {enumerable : false,
writable : true,
configurable : true})
: p[c] = c,
p), {}));
console.log(uniques);
A solution for unsorted arrays with a hash table for the items. Complexity O(2n)
var array = [1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 1],
hash = Object.create(null),
single;
array.forEach(function (a, i) {
hash[a] = a in hash ? -1 : i;
});
single = array.filter(function (a, i) {
return hash[a] === i;
});
console.log(single);
If the array is sorted, you can solve this in O(n) (see "pushUniqueSinglePass" below):
function pushUniqueSinglePass(array, unique) {
var prev; // last element seen
var run = 0; // number of times it has been seen
for (var i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
if (array[i] != prev) {
if (run == 1) {
unique.push(prev); // "prev" appears only once
}
prev = array[i];
run = 1;
} else {
run++;
}
}
}
function pushUniqueWithSet(array, unique) {
var set = new Set();
for (var i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
set.add(array[i]);
}
for (let e of set) {
unique.push(set);
}
}
// Utility and test functions
function randomSortedArray(n, max) {
var array = [];
for (var i = 0; i < n; i++) {
array.push(Math.floor(max * Math.random()));
}
return array.sort();
}
function runtest(i) {
var array = randomSortedArray(i, i / 2);
var r1 = [],
r2 = [];
console.log("Size: " + i);
console.log("Single-pass: " + time(
pushUniqueSinglePass, array, r1));
console.log("With set: " + time(
pushUniqueWithSet, array, r2));
// missing - assert r1 == r2
}
[10, 100, 1000, 10000,
100000, 1000000
].forEach(runtest);
function time(fun, array, unique) {
var start = new Date().getTime();
fun(array, unique);
return new Date().getTime() - start;
}
This is much more efficient than using maps or sorting (time it!). In my machine, a 1M sorted array can have its unique elements found in 18 ms; while the version that uses a set requires 10x more.
I'm trying to take this array and split it into 2 new arrays, evens and odds and return them. When I run the code below I am only getting the odds, why is that? And what can I do to solve it?
Thanks in advance.
var numbersArray = [1,2,34,54,55,34,32,11,19,17,54,66,13];
function divider( arr ) {
var evens = [];
var odds = [];
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if (arr[i] % 2 === 0) {
evens.push(arr[i]);
} else {
odds.push(arr[i]);
}
}
return(evens, odds);
}
divider(numbersArray);
Because JavaScript can only return one value. Ever.
return(evens, odds)
evaluates to the same value as
return odds
due to the comma operator wrapped in grouping parenthesis.
Perhaps returning an array of arrays (or even an object of arrays) is useful..
return [evens, odds]
You should return your results as an array.
return [evens, odds];
And then to access the results:
var evens;
var odds;
var arrayResults = divider(numbersArray);
evens = arrayResults[0];
odds = arrayResults[1];
console.log(evens);
console.log(odds);
In Javascript, you can only return ONE value. So, if you want to return multiples values, to separate them, you can put them in an array or in an object :
return([evens, odds]);
OR
return({evens: evens, odds: odds})
The result of evaluating (evens, odds) is odds, that is returned thus.
This is how comma operator works.
Use the following statement instead:
return { 'evens': evens, 'odds': odds };
As an example:
var v = divider(numberArrays);
v.evens; // get evens this way
v.odds; // get odds this way
You can return only one entity from a function. Its better to wrap your results in single object.
var numbersArray = [1,2,34,54,55,34,32,11,19,17,54,66,13];
function divider( arr ) {
var evens = [];
var odds = [];
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if (arr[i] % 2 === 0) {
evens.push(arr[i]);
} else {
odds.push(arr[i]);
}
}
return {evens:evens, odds:odds};
}
divider(numbersArray);
Es5 doesn't support tuples, You should wrap your return
in an object like here
var numbersArray = [1,2,34,54,55,34,32,11,19,17,54,66,13];
function divider( arr ) {
var evens = [];
var odds = [];
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if (arr[i] % 2 === 0) {
evens.push(arr[i]);
} else {
odds.push(arr[i]);
}
}
return {evens:evens,
odds:odds};
}
divider(numbersArray);
Or in an array as the other aswers show
You could return an object, like this:
var numbersArray = [1,2,34,54,55,34,32,11,19,17,54,66,13];
function divider( arr ) {
var evens = [];
var odds = [];
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if (arr[i] % 2 === 0) {
evens.push(arr[i]);
} else {
odds.push(arr[i]);
}
}
return {evens, odds};
}
divider(numbersArray);
This question already has answers here:
Get all non-unique values (i.e.: duplicate/more than one occurrence) in an array
(97 answers)
Closed 8 years ago.
I'm looking for an easy way of removing a duplicate value from an array. I figured out how to detect if there is a duplicate or not, just I don't know how to "push" it from the value. For example, if you go to the link provided, and then type, "abca" (press return/enter key after each letter).. it will alert "duplicate!"
But I also want to figure out how to remove that duplicate from the textarea?
http://jsfiddle.net/P3gpp/
This is the part that seems to not be working ::
sort = sort.push(i);
textVal = sort;
return textVal;
Why do it the hard way, it can be done more easily using javascript filter function which is specifically for this kind of operations:
var arr = ["apple", "bannana", "orange", "apple", "orange"];
arr = arr.filter( function( item, index, inputArray ) {
return inputArray.indexOf(item) == index;
});
---------------------
Output: ["apple", "bannana", "orange"]
Based on user2668376 solution, this will return a new array without duplicates.
Array.prototype.removeDuplicates = function () {
return this.filter(function (item, index, self) {
return self.indexOf(item) == index;
});
};
After that you can do:
[1, 3, 3, 7].removeDuplicates();
Result will be; [1, 3, 7].
These are the functions I created/use for removing duplicates:
var removeDuplicatesInPlace = function (arr) {
var i, j, cur, found;
for (i = arr.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
cur = arr[i];
found = false;
for (j = i - 1; !found && j >= 0; j--) {
if (cur === arr[j]) {
if (i !== j) {
arr.splice(i, 1);
}
found = true;
}
}
}
return arr;
};
var removeDuplicatesGetCopy = function (arr) {
var ret, len, i, j, cur, found;
ret = [];
len = arr.length;
for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
cur = arr[i];
found = false;
for (j = 0; !found && (j < len); j++) {
if (cur === arr[j]) {
if (i === j) {
ret.push(cur);
}
found = true;
}
}
}
return ret;
};
So using the first one, this is how your code could look:
function cleanUp() {
var text = document.getElementById("fld"),
textVal = text.value,
array;
textVal = textVal.replace(/\r/g, " ");
array = textVal.split(/\n/g);
text.value = removeDuplicatesInPlace(array).join("\n");
}
DEMO: http://jsfiddle.net/VrcN6/1/
You can use Array.reduce() to remove the duplicates. You need a helper object to keep track of how many times an item has been seen.
function cleanUp()
{
var textBox = document.getElementById("fld"),
array = textBox.value.split(/\r?\n/g),
o = {},
output;
output = array.reduce(function(prev, current) {
var key = '$' + current;
// have we seen this value before?
if (o[key] === void 0) {
prev.push(current);
o[key] = true;
}
return prev;
}, []);
// write back the result
textBox.value = output.join("\n");
}
The output of the reduce() step can be used directly to populate the text area again, without affecting the original sort order.
Demo
You can do this easily with just an object:
function removeDuplicates(text) {
var seen = {};
var result = '';
for (var i = 0; i < text.length; i++) {
var char = text.charAt(i);
if (char in seen) {
continue;
} else {
seen[char] = true;
result += char;
}
}
return result;
}
function cleanUp() {
var elem = document.getElementById("fld");
elem.value = removeDuplicates(elem.value);
}
arr3 = [1, 2, 3, 2, 4, 5];
unique = [];
function findUnique(val)
{
status = '0';
unique.forEach(function(itm){
if(itm==val){
status=1;
}
})
return status;
}
arr3.forEach(function(itm){
rtn = findUnique(itm);
if(rtn==0)
unique.push(itm);
});
console.log(unique); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
I am not sure of how to do this, but what I want to do it create an array and be able to add new items to this array. Since the items are supposed to be a random number, when a new instance is created I would like it to be checked against the rest of the array and be sure that the number it has generated is not already in the array. How would I accomplish something like this?
I looked at Šime Vidas's answer and it seems to work, but I tried to shorten it to
var arr = [];
function add(a) {
var n = ~~(Math.random() * 100);
for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
if ( a[i] === n) { a.push(n) }
}
}
for (var i=0; i<5; i++){
add(arr)
}
document.getElementById('output').innerHTML += arr;
and I don't understand why this wouldn't work. It does pretty much the same thing, correct?
var arr = [];
function add(a) {
var n = ~~(Math.random() * 1000);
!is(a, n) && a.push(n);
}
function is(a, n) {
for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
if ( a[i] === n ) { return true; }
}
return false;
}
The add function creates a random integer number between 0 and 1000, and adds it to the array.
The is function checks whether the n number is somewhere inside the a array.
Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/kHhMp/2/
Demo 2: http://jsfiddle.net/kHhMp/3/
(Demo 2 shows that a number will only be added to the array if it's not already in it.)
btw
!is(a, n) && a.push(n);
is a short form of this:
if ( is(a, n) == false ) { a.push(n); }
The number is added to the array only if is(a, n) returns false.
UPDATE
var arr = [];
function add(a) {
var n = ~~(Math.random() * 1000),
ok = true;
for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
if ( a[i] === n ) { ok = false; }
}
ok && a.push(n);
}
If you enjoy fast code and you have many items in your array, you should use an Object rather than an Array.
Instead of doing var my_array=[]; my_array.push(my_number), use var my_object = {}; my_object[my_number] = true to add items in your structure.
With that approach, you can easily check if a new number is already in there with an if (my_object[my_number]) { /* already there */ } else { /* not there yet */ }
Once you're done, you can extract the list of numbers as an array by either using var keys = Object.keys(my_object), or if that's not available, var keys=[],i=0;for (keys[i++] in my_object);, more or less.
You may extend the built in Array object for your needs.
Array.prototype.pushUnique = function(value) {
var len = this.length;
for(var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
if(this[i]===value) return;
}
this.push(value);
}
var uniques = new Array();
uniques.pushUnique(1);
uniques.pushUnique(2);
uniques.pushUnique(1);
// array will contain only 1 and 2
The fastest, most cross-browser way is to iterate over the array using a loop:
var arr = [];
function addNum(num) {
for (i = 0, len = arr.length; i < len; i++) {
if ( arr[i] === num ) { return false; }
}
arr.push(num);
}
Be sure to get the length of the array before you run the loop so the length property isn't constantly checked.
var array = []
array[0] = 'Item'
array[0] === undefined
# returns false
array[1] === undefined
# returns true