Related
I know that there were a lot of topics like this. And I know the basics: .forEach() operates on original array and .map() on the new one.
In my case:
function practice (i){
return i+1;
};
var a = [ -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ];
var b = [ 0 ];
var c = [ 0 ];
console.log(a);
b = a.forEach(practice);
console.log("=====");
console.log(a);
console.log(b);
c = a.map(practice);
console.log("=====");
console.log(a);
console.log(c);
And this is output:
[ -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]
=====
[ -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]
undefined
=====
[ -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]
[ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ]
I can't understand why using practice changes value of b to undefined.
I'm sorry if this is silly question, but I'm quite new in this language and answers I found so far didn't satisfy me.
They are not one and the same. Let me explain the difference.
forEach: This iterates over a list and applies some operation with side effects to each list member (example: saving every list item to the database) and does not return anything.
map: This iterates over a list, transforms each member of that list, and returns another list of the same size with the transformed members (example: transforming list of strings to uppercase). It does not mutate the array on which it is called (although the callback function may do so).
References
Array.prototype.forEach() - JavaScript | MDN
Array.prototype.map() - JavaScript | MDN
Array.forEach “executes a provided function once per array element.”
Array.map “creates a new array with the results of calling a provided function on every element in this array.”
So, forEach doesn’t actually return anything. It just calls the function for each array element and then it’s done. So whatever you return within that called function is simply discarded.
On the other hand, map will similarly call the function for each array element but instead of discarding its return value, it will capture it and build a new array of those return values.
This also means that you could use map wherever you are using forEach but you still shouldn’t do that so you don’t collect the return values without any purpose. It’s just more efficient to not collect them if you don’t need them.
forEach()
map()
Functionality
Performs given operation on each element of the array
Performs given "transformation" on a "copy" of each element
Return value
Returns undefined
Returns new array with transformed elements, leaving back original array unchanged.
Preferrable usage scenario and example
Performing non-tranformation like processing on each element. For example, saving all elements in the database.
Obtaining array containing output of some processing done on each element of the array. For example, obtaining array of lengths of each string in the array
forEach() example
chars = ['Hello' , 'world!!!'] ;
var retVal = chars.forEach(function(word){
console.log("Saving to db: " + word)
})
console.log(retVal) //undefined
map() example
chars = ['Hello' , 'world!!!'] ;
var lengths = chars.map(function(word){
return word.length
})
console.log(lengths) //[5,8]
The main difference that you need to know is .map() returns a new array while .forEach() doesn't. That is why you see that difference in the output. .forEach() just operates on every value in the array.
Read up:
Array.prototype.forEach() - JavaScript | MDN
Array.prototype.map() - JavaScript | MDN
You might also want to check out:
- Array.prototype.every() - JavaScript | MDN
Performance Analysis
For loops performs faster than map or foreach as number of elements in a array increases.
let array = [];
for (var i = 0; i < 20000000; i++) {
array.push(i)
}
console.time('map');
array.map(num => {
return num * 4;
});
console.timeEnd('map');
console.time('forEach');
array.forEach((num, index) => {
return array[index] = num * 4;
});
console.timeEnd('forEach');
console.time('for');
for (i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
array[i] = array[i] * 2;
}
console.timeEnd('for');
forEach: If you want to perform an action on the elements of an Array and it is same as you use for loop. The result of this method does not give us an output buy just loop through the elements.
map: If you want to perform an action on the elements of an array and also you want to store the output of your action into an Array. This is similar to for loop within a function that returns the result after each iteration.
Hope this helps.
map returns a new array.
forEach has no return value.
That's the heart of the difference. Most of the other answers here say effectively that, but in a much more convoluted way.
forEach() :
return value : undefined
originalArray : not modified after the method call
newArray is not created after the end of method call.
map() :
return value : new Array populated with the results of calling a provided function on every element in the calling array
originalArray : not modified after the method call
newArray is created after the end of method call.
Conclusion:
Since map builds a new array, using it when you aren't using the returned array is an anti-pattern; use forEach or for-of instead.
The difference lies in what they return. After execution:
arr.map()
returns an array of elements resulting from the processed function; while:
arr.forEach()
returns undefined.
one of the shuttle difference not mentioned here is that forEach() can loop over static (not live) NodeList while map() cannot
//works perfectly
document.querySelectorAll('.score').forEach(element=>console.log(element));
//Uncaught TypeError: document.querySelectorAll(...).map is not a function
document.querySelectorAll('.score').map(element=>console.log(element));
Diffrence between Foreach & map :
Map() : If you use map then map can return new array by iterating main array.
Foreach() : If you use Foreach then it can not return anything for each can iterating main array.
useFul link : use this link for understanding diffrence
https://codeburst.io/javascript-map-vs-foreach-f38111822c0f
Difference between forEach() & map()
forEach() just loop through the elements. It's throws away return values and always returns undefined.The result of this method does not give us an output .
map() loop through the elements allocates memory and stores return values by iterating main array
Example:
var numbers = [2,3,5,7];
var forEachNum = numbers.forEach(function(number){
return number
})
console.log(forEachNum)
//output undefined
var mapNum = numbers.map(function(number){
return number
})
console.log(mapNum)
//output [2,3,5,7]
map() is faster than forEach()
One thing to point out is that both methods skips uninitialized values, but map keeps them in the returned array.
var arr = [1, , 3];
arr.forEach(function(element) {
console.log(element);
});
//Expected output: 1 3
console.log(arr.map(element => element));
//Expected output: [1, undefined, 3];
Performance Analysis (again - not very scientific)
In my experience sometime .map() can be faster than .foreach()
let rows = [];
for (let i = 0; i < 10000000; i++) {
// console.log("here", i)
rows.push({ id: i, title: 'ciao' });
}
const now1 = Date.now();
rows.forEach(row => {
if (!row.event_title) {
row.event_title = `no title ${row.event_type}`;
}
});
const now2 = Date.now();
rows = rows.map(row => {
if (!row.event_title) {
row.event_title = `no title ${row.event_type}`;
}
return row;
});
const now3 = Date.now();
const time1 = now2 - now1;
const time2 = now3 - now2;
console.log('forEach time', time1);
console.log('.map time', time2);
On my macbook pro (late 2013)
forEach time 1909
.map time 444
.map and .forEach will do just about then same thing, until you start operating on arrays with millions of elements. .map will create another collection with the same size (and possibly type, depending on the array species) which could use up a LOT of memory. .forEach will not do this.
const arr = [...Array(100000000).keys()];
console.time("for");
for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {}
console.timeEnd("for");
console.time("while");
let j = 0;
while (j < arr.length) {
j++;
}
console.timeEnd("while");
console.time("dowhile");
let k = 0;
do {
k++;
} while (k < arr.length);
console.timeEnd("dowhile");
console.time("forEach");
arr.forEach((element) => {});
console.timeEnd("forEach");
VM35:6 for: 45.998046875 ms
VM35:13 while: 154.581787109375 ms
VM35:20 dowhile: 141.97216796875 ms
VM35:24 forEach: 776.469970703125 ms
Map implicitly returns while forEach does not.
This is why when you're coding a JSX application, you almost always use map instead of forEach to display content in React.
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Is there a way to empty an array and if so possibly with .remove()?
For instance,
A = [1,2,3,4];
How can I empty that?
Ways to clear an existing array A:
Method 1
(this was my original answer to the question)
A = [];
This code will set the variable A to a new empty array. This is perfect if you don't have references to the original array A anywhere else because this actually creates a brand new (empty) array. You should be careful with this method because if you have referenced this array from another variable or property, the original array will remain unchanged. Only use this if you only reference the array by its original variable A.
This is also the fastest solution.
This code sample shows the issue you can encounter when using this method:
var arr1 = ['a','b','c','d','e','f'];
var arr2 = arr1; // Reference arr1 by another variable
arr1 = [];
console.log(arr2); // Output ['a','b','c','d','e','f']
Method 2 (as suggested by Matthew Crumley)
A.length = 0
This will clear the existing array by setting its length to 0. It also works when using "strict mode" in ECMAScript 5 because the length property of an array is a read/write property.
Method 3 (as suggested by Anthony)
A.splice(0,A.length)
Using .splice() will work perfectly, but since the .splice() function will return an array with all the removed items, it will actually return a copy of the original array. Benchmarks suggest that this has no effect on performance whatsoever.
Method 4 (as suggested by tanguy_k)
while(A.length > 0) {
A.pop();
}
This solution is not very succinct, and it is also the slowest solution, contrary to earlier benchmarks referenced in the original answer.
Performance
Of all the methods of clearing an existing array, methods 2 and 3 are very similar in performance and are a lot faster than method 4. See this benchmark.
As pointed out by Diadistis in their answer below, the original benchmarks that were used to determine the performance of the four methods described above were flawed. The original benchmark reused the cleared array so the second iteration was clearing an array that was already empty.
The following benchmark fixes this flaw: http://jsben.ch/#/hyj65. It clearly shows that methods #2 (length property) and #3 (splice) are the fastest (not counting method #1 which doesn't change the original array).
This has been a hot topic and the cause of a lot of controversy. There are actually many correct answers and because this answer has been marked as the accepted answer for a very long time, I will include all of the methods here.
If you need to keep the original array because you have other references to it that should be updated too, you can clear it without creating a new array by setting its length to zero:
A.length = 0;
Here the fastest working implementation while keeping the same array ("mutable"):
function clearArray(array) {
while (array.length > 0) {
array.pop();
}
}
FYI it cannot be simplified to while (array.pop()): the tests will fail.
FYI Map and Set define clear(), it would have seem logical to have clear() for Array too.
TypeScript version:
function clearArray<T>(array: T[]) {
while (array.length > 0) {
array.pop();
}
}
The corresponding tests:
describe('clearArray()', () => {
test('clear regular array', () => {
const array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
clearArray(array);
expect(array.length).toEqual(0);
expect(array[0]).toEqual(undefined);
expect(array[4]).toEqual(undefined);
});
test('clear array that contains undefined and null', () => {
const array = [1, undefined, 3, null, 5];
clearArray(array);
expect(array.length).toEqual(0);
expect(array[0]).toEqual(undefined);
expect(array[4]).toEqual(undefined);
});
});
Here the updated jsPerf: http://jsperf.com/array-destroy/32 http://jsperf.com/array-destroy/152
jsPerf offline. Similar benchmark: https://jsben.ch/hyj65
A more cross-browser friendly and more optimal solution will be to use the splice method to empty the content of the array A as below:
A.splice(0, A.length);
The answers that have no less that 2739 upvotes by now are misleading and incorrect.
The question is: "How do you empty your existing array?" E.g. for A = [1,2,3,4].
Saying "A = [] is the answer" is ignorant and absolutely incorrect. [] == [] is false.
This is because these two arrays are two separate, individual objects, with their own two identities, taking up their own space in the digital world, each on its own.
Let's say your mother asks you to empty the trash can.
You don't bring in a new one as if you've done what you've been asked for.
Instead, you empty the trash can.
You don't replace the filled one with a new empty can, and you don't take the label "A" from the filled can and stick it to the new one as in A = [1,2,3,4]; A = [];
Emptying an array object is the easiest thing ever:
A.length = 0;
This way, the can under "A" is not only empty, but also as clean as new!
Furthermore, you are not required to remove the trash by hand until the can is empty! You were asked to empty the existing one, completely, in one turn, not to pick up the trash until the can gets empty, as in:
while(A.length > 0) {
A.pop();
}
Nor, to put your left hand at the bottom of the trash, holding it with your right at the top to be able to pull its content out as in:
A.splice(0, A.length);
No, you were asked to empty it:
A.length = 0;
This is the only code that correctly empties the contents of a given JavaScript array.
Performance test:
http://jsperf.com/array-clear-methods/3
a = []; // 37% slower
a.length = 0; // 89% slower
a.splice(0, a.length) // 97% slower
while (a.length > 0) {
a.pop();
} // Fastest
You can add this to your JavaScript file to allow your arrays to be "cleared":
Array.prototype.clear = function() {
this.splice(0, this.length);
};
Then you can use it like this:
var list = [1, 2, 3];
list.clear();
Or if you want to be sure you don't destroy something:
if (!Array.prototype.clear) {
Array.prototype.clear = function() {
this.splice(0, this.length);
};
}
Lots of people think you shouldn't modify native objects (like Array), and I'm inclined to agree. Please use caution in deciding how to handle this.
You can easily create a function to do that for you, change the length or even add it to native Array as remove() function for reuse.
Imagine you have this array:
var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]; //the array
OK, just simply run this:
arr.length = 0; //change the length
and the result is:
[] //result
easy way to empty an array...
Also using loop which is not necessary but just another way to do that:
/* could be arr.pop() or arr.splice(0)
don't need to return as main array get changed */
function remove(arr) {
while(arr.length) {
arr.shift();
}
}
There are also tricky way which you can think about, for example something like this:
arr.splice(0, arr.length); //[]
So if arr has 5 items, it will splice 5 items from 0, which means nothing will remain in the array.
Also other ways like simply reassign the array for example:
arr = []; //[]
If you look at the Array functions, there are many other ways to do this, but the most recommended one could be changing the length.
As I said in the first place, you can also prototype remove() as it's the answer to your question. you can simply choose one of the methods above and prototype it to Array object in JavaScript, something like:
Array.prototype.remove = Array.prototype.remove || function() {
this.splice(0, this.length);
};
and you can simply call it like this to empty any array in your javascript application:
arr.remove(); //[]
If you are using
a = [];
Then you are assigning new array reference to a, if reference in a is already assigned to any other variable, then it will not empty that array too and hence garbage collector will not collect that memory.
For ex.
var a=[1,2,3];
var b=a;
a=[];
console.log(b);// It will print [1,2,3];
or
a.length = 0;
When we specify a.length, we are just resetting boundaries of the array and memory for rest array elements will be connected by garbage collector.
Instead of these two solutions are better.
a.splice(0,a.length)
and
while(a.length > 0) {
a.pop();
}
As per previous answer by kenshou.html, second method is faster.
There is a lot of confusion and misinformation regarding the while;pop/shift performance both in answers and comments. The while/pop solution has (as expected) the worst performance. What's actually happening is that setup runs only once for each sample that runs the snippet in a loop. eg:
var arr = [];
for (var i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
arr.push(Math.random());
}
for (var j = 0; j < 1000; j++) {
while (arr.length > 0) {
arr.pop(); // this executes 100 times, not 100000
}
}
I have created a new test that works correctly :
http://jsperf.com/empty-javascript-array-redux
Warning: even in this version of the test you can't actually see the real difference because cloning the array takes up most of the test time. It still shows that splice is the fastest way to clear the array (not taking [] into consideration because while it is the fastest it's not actually clearing the existing array).
Array.prototype.clear = function() {
this.length = 0;
};
And call it: array.clear();
In case you are interested in the memory allocation, you may compare each approach using something like this jsfiddle in conjunction with chrome dev tools' timeline tab. You will want to use the trash bin icon at the bottom to force a garbage collection after 'clearing' the array. This should give you a more definite answer for the browser of your choice. A lot of answers here are old and I wouldn't rely on them but rather test as in #tanguy_k's answer above.
(for an intro to the aforementioned tab you can check out here)
Stackoverflow forces me to copy the jsfiddle so here it is:
<html>
<script>
var size = 1000*100
window.onload = function() {
document.getElementById("quantifier").value = size
}
function scaffold()
{
console.log("processing Scaffold...");
a = new Array
}
function start()
{
size = document.getElementById("quantifier").value
console.log("Starting... quantifier is " + size);
console.log("starting test")
for (i=0; i<size; i++){
a[i]="something"
}
console.log("done...")
}
function tearDown()
{
console.log("processing teardown");
a.length=0
}
</script>
<body>
<span style="color:green;">Quantifier:</span>
<input id="quantifier" style="color:green;" type="text"></input>
<button onclick="scaffold()">Scaffold</button>
<button onclick="start()">Start</button>
<button onclick="tearDown()">Clean</button>
<br/>
</body>
</html>
And you should take note that it may depend on the type of the array elements, as javascript manages strings differently than other primitive types, not to mention arrays of objects. The type may affect what happens.
Use a modified version of Jan's initial suggestion:
var originalLength = A.length;
for (var i = originalLength; i > 0; i--) {
A.pop();
}
Terser:
for (let i = A.length; i > 0;A.pop(),i--) {}
Or here's another take:
while(!A[Symbol.iterator]().next().done)A.shift()
A.splice(0);
I just did this on some code I am working on. It cleared the array.
If you use constants then you have no choice:
const numbers = [1, 2, 3]
You can not reasign:
numbers = []
You can only truncate:
numbers.length = 0
To Empty a Current memory location of an array use: 'myArray.length = 0' or 'myArray.pop() UN-till its length is 0'
length : You can set the length property to truncate an array at any time. When you extend an array by changing its length property, the number of actual elements increases.
pop() : The pop method removes the last element from an array and returns that returns the removed value.
shift() : The shift method removes the element at the zeroeth index and shifts the values at consecutive indexes down, then returns the removed value.
Example:
var arr = ['77'];
arr.length = 20;
console.log("Increasing : ", arr); // (20) ["77", empty × 19]
arr.length = 12;
console.log("Truncating : ", arr); // (12) ["77", empty × 11]
var mainArr = new Array();
mainArr = ['1', '2', '3', '4'];
var refArr = mainArr;
console.log('Current', mainArr, 'Refered', refArr);
refArr.length = 3;
console.log('Length: ~ Current', mainArr, 'Refered', refArr);
mainArr.push('0');
console.log('Push to the End of Current Array Memory Location \n~ Current', mainArr, 'Refered', refArr);
mainArr.poptill_length(0);
console.log('Empty Array \n~ Current', mainArr, 'Refered', refArr);
Array.prototype.poptill_length = function (e) {
while (this.length) {
if( this.length == e ) break;
console.log('removed last element:', this.pop());
}
};
new Array() | [] Create an Array with new memory location by using Array constructor or array literal.
mainArr = []; // a new empty array is addressed to mainArr.
var arr = new Array('10'); // Array constructor
arr.unshift('1'); // add to the front
arr.push('15'); // add to the end
console.log("After Adding : ", arr); // ["1", "10", "15"]
arr.pop(); // remove from the end
arr.shift(); // remove from the front
console.log("After Removing : ", arr); // ["10"]
var arrLit = ['14', '17'];
console.log("array literal « ", indexedItem( arrLit ) ); // {0,14}{1,17}
function indexedItem( arr ) {
var indexedStr = "";
arr.forEach(function(item, index, array) {
indexedStr += "{"+index+","+item+"}";
console.log(item, index);
});
return indexedStr;
}
slice() : By using slice function we get an shallow copy of elements from the original array, with new memory address, So that any modification on cloneArr will not affect to an actual|original array.
var shallowCopy = mainArr.slice(); // this is how to make a copy
var cloneArr = mainArr.slice(0, 3);
console.log('Main', mainArr, '\tCloned', cloneArr);
cloneArr.length = 0; // Clears current memory location of an array.
console.log('Main', mainArr, '\tCloned', cloneArr);
I'm surprised no one has suggested this yet:
let xs = [1,2,3,4];
for (let i in xs)
delete xs[i];
This yields an array in quite a different state from the other solutions. In a sense, the array has been 'emptied':
xs
=> Array [ <4 empty slots> ]
[...xs]
=> Array [ undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined ]
xs.length
=> 4
xs[0]
=> ReferenceError: reference to undefined property xs[0]
You can produce an equivalent array with [,,,,] or Array(4)
It should be quite easy to implement array.map() that is defined in ECMA-262, which takes a function and this function will be called by 3 arguments: element value, index, the array.
But what about for sparse array? Obviously we don't want to iterate from index 0 to 100,000 if only index 0, 1, 2, and 100,000 has an element and otherwise is sparse from index 3 to 99,999. I can think of using arr.slice(0) or arr.concat() to clone the array, and then put in the replaced values, but what if we don't use slice or concat, is there another way to do it?
The solution I came up with using slice() is:
Array.prototype.collect = Array.prototype.collect || function(fn) {
var result = this.slice(0);
for (var i in this) {
if (this.hasOwnProperty(i))
result[i] = fn(this[i], i, this); // 3 arguments according to ECMA specs
}
return result;
};
(collect is used to try out the code, as that's another name for map in some language)
It should be easy, but there are a few peculiar points.
The callback function is allowed to modify the array in question. Any elements it adds or removes are not visited. So it seems we should use something like Object.keys to determine which elements to visit.
Also, the result is defined to be a new array "created as if by" the array constructor taking the length of the old array, so we might as well use that constructor to create it.
Here's an implementation taking these things into account, but probably missing some other subtleties:
function map(callbackfn, thisArg) {
var keys = Object.keys(this),
result = new Array(this.length);
keys.forEach(function(key) {
if (key >= 0 && this.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
result[key] = callbackfn.call(thisArg, this[key], key, this);
}
}, this);
return result;
}
I am assuming Object.keys returns the keys of the array in numerical order, which I think is implementation defined. If it doesn't, you could sort them.
You don't need to use this.slice(0). You can just make result an array and assign values to any index:
Array.prototype.collect = Array.prototype.collect || function(fn) {
var result = [];
for(var i in this) {
if (this.hasOwnProperty(i)) {
result[i] = fn(this[i]);
}
}
return result;
}
I have this code to iterate through an array of objects:
for (vehicleIndex in scenes[sceneID].vehicles) {
vehicleID = scenes[sceneID].vehicles[vehicleIndex];
...
}
but I need to know how to determine the number of items being iterated through so that on the final item, I can execute a particular function. How do I do this?
Example in ES5:
Object.keys( scenes[sceneID].vehicles ).forEach(function( vehicle, index, arr ) {
if( index === arr.length - 1 ) {
// do something on last entry
}
});
Even tho, "last" just means the last element which was looped over. Since there is specific order within a Javascript object (they are infact unordered). However, we could sort the object key names manually by just chaining a .sort() before the .forEach()
var arraySize = scenes[sceneID].vehicles.length;
var i;
var currentItem;
for (i = 0; i < arraySize; i++) {
currentItem = scenes[sceneID].vehicles[i];
if (i == arraySize - 1) {
// do something special
} else {
// do something not so special ;-)
}
}
scenes[sceneID].vehicles should have a length property.
for (vehicleIndex in scenes[sceneID].vehicles) {
vehicleID = scenes[sceneID].vehicles[vehicleIndex];
...
}
doSomethingWithLastItem(vehicleId);
Because JS does not have block scope, by the time your loop finished vehicleId will be the last item's id.
In generic terms you can get the size of an array by accessing the .length property. You can also get the size of an object using Object.keys(obj).length.
Use this to find the length:
scenes[sceneID].vehicles.length
length is a built-in property in arrays. However, if you want to check for the last item, you have to check
scenes[sceneID].vehicles.length - 1
as arrays are zero-indexed.
Also, you should not use for...in to loop on arrays - if someone extends Array.prototype (or worse, Object.prototype), then you will not be happy. Use a normal for loop (which also allows you to use the final item easily):
var len = scenes[sceneID].vehicles.length;
for (var vehicleIndex = 0; vehicleIndex < len; vehicleIndex++) {
vehicleID = scenes[sceneID].vehicles[vehicleIndex];
//...
}
//Do something with the final item here
//Similar to this: itemFunc(vehicleID);
See this SO question for more details.
I have an array of objects in javascript. I use jquery.
How do i get the first element in the array? I cant use the array index - as I assign each elements index when I am adding the objects to the array. So the indexes arent 0, 1, 2 etc.
Just need to get the first element of the array?
If you don't use sequentially numbered elements, you'll have to loop through until you hit the first one:
var firstIndex = 0;
while (firstIndex < myarray.length && myarray[firstIndex] === undefined) {
firstIndex++;
}
if (firstIndex < myarray.length) {
var firstElement = myarray[firstIndex];
} else {
// no elements.
}
or some equivalently silly construction. This gets you the first item's index, which you might or might not care about it.
If this is something you need to do often, you should keep a lookaside reference to the current first valid index, so this becomes an O(1) operation instead of O(n) every time. If you're frequently needing to iterate through a truly sparse array, consider another data structure, like keeping an object alongside it that back-maps ordinal results to indexes, or something that fits your data.
The filter method works with sparse arrays.
var first = array.filter(x => true)[0];
Have you considered:
function getFirstIndex(array){
var result;
if(array instanceof Array){
for(var i in array){
result = i;
break;
}
} else {
return null;
}
return result;
}
?
And as a way to get the last element in the array:
function getLastIndex(array){
var result;
if(array instanceof Array){
result = array.push("");
array.pop;
}
} else {
return null;
}
return result;
}
Neither of these uses jquery.
Object.keys(array)[0] returns the index (in String form) of the first element in the sparse array.
var array = [];
array[2] = true;
array[5] = undefined;
var keys = Object.keys(array); // => ["2", "5"]
var first = Number(keys[0]); // => 2
var last = Number(keys[keys.length - 1]); // => 5
I was also facing a similar problem and was surprised that no one has considered the following:
var testArray = [];
testArray [1245]= 31;
testArray[2045] = 45;
for(index in testArray){
console.log(index+','+testArray[index])
}
The above will produce
1245,31
2045,45
If needed you could exist after the first iteration if all that was required but generally we need to know where in the array to begin.
This is a proposal with ES5 method with Array#some.
The code gets the first nonsparse element and the index. The iteration stops immediately with returning true in the callback:
var a = [, , 22, 33],
value,
index;
a.some(function (v, i) {
value = v;
index = i;
return true;
});
console.log(index, value);
If you find yourself needing to do manipulation of arrays a lot, you might be interested in the Underscore library. It provides utility methods for manipulating arrays, for example compact:
var yourArray = [];
yourArray[10] = "foo";
var firstValue = _.compact(yourArray)[0];
However, it does sound like you are doing something strange when you are constructing your array. Perhaps Array.push would help you out?