How to empty an javascript array? - javascript

var arr = [-3, -34, 1, 32, -100];
How can I remove all items and just leave an empty array?
And is it a good idea to use this?
arr = [];
Thank you very much!

If there are no other references to that array, then just create a new empty array over top of the old one:
array = [];
If you need to modify an existing array—if, for instance, there's a reference to that array stored elsewhere:
var array1 = [-3, -34, 1, 32, -100];
var array2 = array1;
// This.
array1.length = 0;
// Or this.
while (array1.length > 0) {
array1.pop();
}
// Now both are empty.
assert(array2.length == 0);

the simple, easy and safe way to do it is :
arr.length = 0;
making a new instance of array, redirects the reference to one another new instance, but didn't free old one.

one of those two:
var a = Array();
var a = [];

Just as you say:
arr = [];

Using arr = []; to empty the array is far more efficient than doing something like looping and unsetting each key, or unsetting and then recreating the object.

Out of box idea:
while(arr.length) arr.pop();

Ways to clean/empty an array
This is perfect if you do not have any references from other places. (substitution with a new array)
arr = []
This Would not free up the objects in this array and may have memory implications. (setting prop length to 0)
arr.length = 0
Remove all elements from an array and actually clean the original array. (splicing the whole array)
arr.splice(0,arr.length)

Related

Add array inside array in Javascript

How do I push array into a new Array.
For example
var arr = ['one','two','three'];
var newArr = [];
Now I want newArr[0] = ['one','two','three']
I have tried using push function but it pushes all the elements of arr into newArr. I want to push the entire arr as it is in newArr
var arr = ['one','two','three'];
var newArr = [];
newArr.push(arr); //<-- add entire original array as first key of new array
You can write:
newArr[0] = ['one','two','three'];
And this will work. Or use variable:
newArr[0] = arr;
Also, array methods push or unshift will the same way in your situation work:
newArr.push(arr);
Others have answered, so I guess your question is not really clear.
As you put your question, first and only element of newArray should be the arr array, then you use
newArr.push(arr);
as Mitya and Tiij7 said.
However, maybe you meant you want to join (concat) 2 arrays in a new array? Then you would use:
var arr3 = [].concat(arr, newArr);
or
var arr3 = [...arr, ...newArr];
Or you just wanted to clone the initial array? Then use
var newArr = [...arr];

Array.slice using index number contained in another array

I have two arrays.I'm trying to remove some elements from [arr] at index numbers in [removeIndex].
var removeIndex = [2,3];
var arr = [1,1,0,0,1,1,1];
for (let i = 0; i < removeIndex.length;i++){
arr.splice(removeIndex[i],1);
}
console.log(arr)
// output Array(5) [ 1, 1, 0, 1, 1 ]
//expected [ 1,1,1,1,1]
Both the 0's are at arr[2] and arr[3] position and should get removed,however the above code doesnt work.I suspect it has to do with the loop re-arranging the index numbers.Any alternate solution?
You definitely suspect correctly about why this is happening. The easiest way I can think of to do what you're after is to use the not-often-used second argument to the callback function passed to the filter method, which takes an element's index:
arr = arr.filter((elt, index) => removeIndex.indexOf(index) == -1);
You can use Array.prototype.filter()
The filter() method creates a new array with all elements that pass the test implemented by the provided function.
and Array.prototype.includes()
The includes() method determines whether an array includes a certain element, returning true or false as appropriate.
Pass index as the second parameter to check whether that index includes or not in removeIndex. Return the element only if the current index does not exist in removeIndex array:
var removeIndex = [2,3];
var arr = [1,1,0,0,1,1,1];
arr = arr.filter((i,idx) => !removeIndex.includes(idx));
console.log(arr); //[ 1,1,1,1,1]
I would use filter and come up with this clean code:
var removeIndex = [2,3];
var arr = [1,1,0,0,1,1,1];
var newArr = arr.filter(el => el !== 0);
console.log(newArr);
// [1,1,1,1,1]
As stated in the comments, you mutate the array so the next time you loop through the array it's items will be changed and you won't have the same items at the same indexes. There is a fairly simple solution for your particular example :
var removeIndex = [2,3].sort(); // This won't work with [3,2] for example
var arr = [1,1,0,0,1,1,1];
for (let i = 0; i < removeIndex.length; i++){
arr.splice(removeIndex[i] - i, 1);
}
console.log(arr)
But I'd suggest using an immutable solution with .filter for example, like suggested in the comments

Nodejs : The array is changed without reference to change. Why?

Sorry I'm new to node js. If you look at the ListComp array it has changed after the while loop. Could someone explain what is wrong with this code?
function FormGrp() {
var ListOne = [];
var ListTwo = [];
var count = 0;
var Control;
var graph = [];
var ListComp = [[59],[73,41],[52,40,9],[26,53,6,34],[10,51,87,86,81]];
Control = 4;
console.log(ListComp);
while(Control != 0){
ListOne = ListComp[count];
ListTwo = ListComp[count+1];
for(var i=0; i<ListOne.length; i++){
for(var j=0; j<ListTwo.length; j++){
if(j === 2){
ListTwo.shift();
break;
}
graph.push([ListOne[i],ListTwo[j]]);
}
}
count++;
Control--;
}
console.log('\n',ListComp);
}
In the two console outputs the values ​​were different, but I did not use any mocking method in the ListComp array, how could it have been changed?
It changes because objects are copied by reference, and in Javascript an Array is an object. So, if you change the copy the original one is going to be affected as well.
Take into account that ListComp is an array of arrays, which means that if you copy one of those arrays in ListComp you are copying them by reference. For example in this line:
ListOne = ListComp[count]
In the first iteration you are copying the array [59] by reference to the array ListOne.
Let's see an example with just a simple array:
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
const arrCopy = arr;
arrCopy.push(4)
console.log(arr); // [1, 2, 3, 4]
console.log(arrCopy); // [1, 2, 3, 4]
A fast way to solve it is using, for example, Array#slice() to clone the arrays:
ListOne = ListComp[count].slice();
ListTwo = ListComp[count+1].slice();
But maybe structuring your code in a way you don't need to create clones could be better though.

Javascript array non undefined element count

I create an array with let arr = new Array(99999) but I don't fill it up to arr.length which is 99999, how can I know how much actual, non undefined elements do I have in this array?
Is there a better way than to look for the first undefined?
You could use Array#forEach, which skips sparse elements.
let array = new Array(99999),
count = 0;
array[30] = undefined;
array.forEach(_ => count++);
console.log(count);
The same with Array#reduce
let array = new Array(99999),
count = 0;
array[30] = undefined;
count = array.reduce(c => c + 1, 0);
console.log(count);
For filtering non sparse/dense elements, you could use a callback which returns for every element true.
Maybe this link helps a bit to understand the mechanic of a sparse array: JavaScript: sparse arrays vs. dense arrays.
let array = new Array(99999),
nonsparsed;
array[30] = undefined;
nonsparsed = array.filter(_ => true);
console.log(nonsparsed);
console.log(nonsparsed.length);
The fastest & simplest way to filter items in an array is to... well... use the .filter() function, to filter out only the elements that are valid (non undefined in your case), and then check the .length of the result...
function isValid(value) {
return value != undefined;
}
var arr = [12, undefined, "blabla", ,true, 44];
var filtered = arr.filter(isValid);
console.log(filtered); // [12, "blabla", true, 44]

Removing the elements from one multidimensional array from another multidimensional array

I'm finding it difficult getting my head around what I think is a pretty simple task. My brain is just fried at the moment and I have a deadline. :(
I need to take all the element arrays from one multidimensional array and remove them from another multidimensional array.
Arr1 = [["Tom", "161"], ["Dick", "29"], ["Harry", "46"], ["Mike", "72"], ["Sally", "11"]];
Arr2 = [["Harry", "46"], ["Mike", "72"], ["Tom", "161"]];
So in this instance I want to take all the element arrays from Arr2 and remove them from Arr1 so that afterward Arr1 would look like this:
Arr1 = [["Dick", "29"], ["Sally", "11"]];
Does that make sense?
EDITx2: Wait, no, ignore that, I was being stupid.
Assuming you always have two elements in the array, and a "unique" element is defined as a combination of the name and the number, you can do something like this:
function(array1, array2) {
var seen = {};
var returnedArray = [];
for(var i = 0; i < array2.length; i++) {
var elements = array2[i];
seen[elements[0] + elements[1]] = true;
//an alternative to the above is to do
//seen[JSON.stringify(elements)] = true;
}
for(var i = 0; i < array1.length; i++) {
var elements = array1[i];
if(!seen[elements[0] + elements[1]]) {
returnedArray.push(elements);
}
//an alternative to the above is to do
//if(!seen[JSON.stringify(elements)]) {
// ...
//}
//
//if you took the alternate approach in the first loop
}
return returnedArray;
}
Since it's all strings you could get creative with string methods and chaining. Probably not the best performance and a bit tricky, but it works:
var arr = [["Tom", "161"], ["Dick", "29"], ["Harry", "46"], ["Mike", "72"], ["Sally", "11"]];
var remove = [["Harry", "46"], ["Mike", "72"], ["Tom", "161"]];
var result = arr
.join('|')
.replace(RegExp(remove.join('|'),'g'),'')
.match(/[^|]+/g)
.map(function(s){ return s.split(',') });
console.log(result); //=> [["Dick","29"],["Sally","11"]]
You could even try using JSON. I wouldn't recommend this for production in any case, just for fun.
Demo: http://jsbin.com/obokuy/1/edit
If you need to put together something quick, then use a nested loop to walk through the elements of Arr2 for each element in Arr1 and do a comparison on each. You can look at the answers to this question for a hint on comparing the inner arrays:
How to check if two arrays are equal with JavaScript?

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