Arrays in JavaScript

An array is declared using square-bracketed notation as in the following:

var names = ["Abhi", "Ayush", "Abhijeet"]

To get an element put its index in square brackets (the first index is 0) as in the following:

var names = ["Abhi", "Ayush", "Abhijeet"]
alert(names[0])
alert(names[1])

alert(names[2])

We can also retrieve its length as in the following:

var names = ["Abhi", "Ayush", "Abhijeet"]
alert(names.length)


Methods pop and push

There is a method pop that removes the last item and returns it.

Here we will see how the “abhijeet” is being popped off.

var names = ["Abhi", "Ayush", "Abhijeet"]
alert(
"I remove " + names.pop())
// Now we have ["Abhi","Ayush"]

alert(
"Now length is: " + names.length) // Abhijeet is removed

There is another method push that appends an element to the array.

Let’s say we’ve forgotten Bittoo as in the following:

var
names = ["Abhi", "Ayush"]
names.push(
"Bittoo");
// now got ["Abhi", "Ayush", "Bittoo"]

alert(
"Last element is:" + names[names.length - 1])

Iterating over an array

To iterate over elements, a loop over all indices is usually used as in the following:

var names = ["Ab", "Yogi", "Abhi", "Ayush", "Bittoo"]
for (var i = 0; i < names.length; i++) {
alert(names[i])

}


Multidimensional arrays

Here is an example:

var multi = [[10, 20, 30], [40, 50, 60], [70, 80, 90]]
alert(multi[1][1])
//it is central element

join and split
  • The join method combines an array into a string using a specifeid separator as in the following:

    var names = ["Ab", "Abhi", "Ayush", "Bittoo"];
    var s = names.join(', ');
    alert(s);

  • The split method is the reverse of join:

    var names = "Abhi,Ayush,Bittoo";
    var
    ar = names.split(',');
    // ar is ["Abhi", "Ayush", "Bittoo"]
    alert(ar[0]);

Removing from an array

Here is an example:

var ar = ["Hello", "Most", "Welcome"]
delete ar[1]
// now ar = ["Hello", undefined, "Welcome"]

alert(ar[1])
// undefined

A delete operator removes a key-value pair. Basically because an array is just a hash, the slot becomes undefined.

We need to remove an item without leaving holes between indexes. For this there is another method known as a splice.

Method splice

Syntax

ar.splice(index, deleteCount[, elem1,..., elemN])

It can delete elements and replace them.

Here is an example:

var ar = ["Hello", "Most", "Welcome"]
ar.splice(1, 1)
// remove 1st element starting at index 1
alert(ar.join(
',')) // ["Hello", "Welcome"] (1st element removed)

Another example.

Splice is able to insert elements, just set the deleteCount to 0.

var ar = ["Hello", "Most", "Welcome"];
// from 2nd position
// delete 0

// and insert "Hi", "Buddy"

ar.splice(2, 0,
"Hi", "Buddy")
alert(ar)
// "Hello", "Most", "Hi", "Buddy", "Welcome"

Method slice

We can also extract a portion of array using slice(begin, end).

This method does not modify the array, it just copies a slice of it.

Example

var ar1 = ["Hello", "Most", "Welcome"];
var ar2 = ar1.slice(0, 2) // take 2 elements starting at 0
alert(ar2.join(
', ')) // "Hello, Most"

Method reverse

Suppose I want the last part of a domain, like “com” from “www.abhijeet.com”.

Example

var domname = "www.abhijeet.com"
var l = domname.split('.').reverse()[0]
alert(l)

Up Next
    Ebook Download
    View all
    Learn
    View all