array

Array utilities.

Table of Contents #

append(arr1, arr2):Array #

Appends an array to the end of the other. The first array will be modified and will contain the appended items.

See: union(), combine()


var foo = ['a', 'b'],
    bar = ['b', 'd'];

append(foo, bar); // ['a', 'b', 'b', 'd']

collect(arr, callback, [thisObj]):Array #

Maps the items in arr and concatenates the resulting arrays.

See: map()


collect([1, 2, 3], function(val) {
    return [val, val % 2];
}); // [1, 1, 2, 0, 3, 1];

collect(['a', 'bb', ''], function(val) {
    return val.split('');
}); // ['a', 'b', 'b']

It also supports a shorthand syntax:


var items = [{ a: [1] }, { b: 'foo' }, { a: [2, 3] }];
collect(items, 'a'); // [1, 2, 3];

combine(arr1, arr2):Array #

Combines an array with all the items of another. The first array will be modified and will contain the combined items. Does not allow duplicates and is case and type sensitive.

See: union(), append()


var foo = ['a', 'b'],
    bar = ['b', 'd'];

combine(foo, bar); // ['a', 'b', 'd']

compact(arr):Array #

Returns a new Array without any null or undefined values. Note that it will keep empty strings and other falsy values (simillar to Ruby Array#compact).


var arr = [0, 1, null, false, '', 'foo', undefined, 'bar'];
compact(arr); // [0, 1, false, '', 'foo', 'bar'];

contains(arr, value):Boolean #

Checks if Array contains value. Alias to indexOf(arr, val) !== -1.


var arr = [1, 2, 3];
contains(arr, 2);      // true
contains(arr, 'foo');  // false

difference(...arrs):Array #

Return a new Array with elements that aren't present in the other Arrays besides the first one.

Works like Python set#difference.

It will remove duplicates.

See: xor(), intersection()


var a = ['a', 'b', 1];
var b = ['c', 1];
difference(a, b); // ['a', 'b']

equals(a, b, [compare]):Boolean #

Checks if both arrays are equal.


equals([1, 2], [1, 2]); // true
equals([2, 4], [1, 2]); // false

By default it uses the lang/is as the compare function but you can pass a custom function to change the behavior.


function loose(a, b) {
    return a == b;
}
equals(['1', 2], [1, 2], loose); // true

See: object/equals, lang/deepEquals

every(arr, callback, [thisObj]):Array #

Crossbrowser Array.every().

Tests whether all elements in the array pass the test implemented by the provided function.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).


var items = [1, 'foo', 'bar'];
every(items, isString);   // false
every(items, isFunction); // false
every(items, function(val, key, arr){
    return val != null;
}); // true

more info at MDN Array#every

It also supports a shorthand syntax:


var items = [{id:1, active:true}, {id:3, active:true}, {id:8, active:true}];
// all items with `id === 8`
every(items, {id:8}); // false
// `active` is truthy on all items
every(items, 'active'); // true

filter(arr, callback, [thisObj]):Array #

Crossbrowser Array.filter().

Creates a new array with all elements that pass the callback test.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).


var nums = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
var oddNumbers = filter(nums, function(val, key, arr){
    return (val % 2) !== 0;
});
// > [1, 3, 5]

more info at MDN Array#filter

Filter also supports shorthand notation:


var users = [
    {name:'john', surname:'connor', beard:false},
    {name:'john', surname:'doe', beard:true},
    {name:'jane', surname:'doe', beard:false}
];
// filter item that matches all properties/values pairs
filter(arr, {name:'john', beard:false});
// > [{name:'john', surnname:'connor', beard:false}]
// items where 'beard' is a truthy value
filter(arr, 'beard');
// > [{name:'john', surnname:'doe', beard:true}]

See reject()

find(arr, callback, [thisObj]):* #

Loops through all the items in the Array and returns the first one that passes a truth test (callback).


var arr = [123, {a:'b'}, 'foo', 'bar'];
find(arr, isString); // "foo"
find(arr, isNumber); // 123
find(arr, isObject); // {a:'b'}

Find also supports shorthand notation:


var users = [
    {name:'john', surname:'connor', beard:false},
    {name:'john', surname:'doe', beard:true}
];
// first item that matches all properties/values pairs
find(arr, {name:'john'}); // {name:'john', surnname:'connor', beard:false}
// first item where 'beard' is a truthy value
find(arr, 'beard'); // {name:'john', surnname:'doe', beard:true}

See: findIndex(), findLast(), findLastIndex()

findLast(arr, callback, [thisObj]):* #

Loops through all the items in the Array (starting from last item) and returns the first one that passes a truth test (callback).


var arr = [123, {a:'b'}, 'foo', 'bar'];
findLast(arr, isString); // "bar"
findLast(arr, isNumber); // 123
findLast(arr, isObject); // {a:'b'}

findLast also supports shorthand notation:


var users = [
    {name:'john', surname:'connor', beard:false},
    {name:'john', surname:'doe', beard:true}
];
// last item that matches all properties/values pairs
findLast(arr, {name:'john'}); // {name:'john', surnname:'doe', beard:true}
// last item where 'beard' is a truthy value
findLast(arr, 'beard'); // {name:'john', surnname:'doe', beard:true}

See: find(), findIndex(), findLastIndex()

findIndex(arr, iterator, [thisObj]):Number #

Loops through the items in the Array and returns the index of the first one that passes a truth test (callback).

Returns -1 if no item was found that passes the truth test.


var arr = [1, { a: 1 }, 'foo', 'bar'];
findIndex(arr, isString); // 2
findIndex(arr, isNumber); // 0
findIndex(arr, isObject); // 1
findIndex(arr, isRegExp); // -1

findIndex also supports shorthand notation:


var pets = [
    { pet: 'dog', name: 'Sam' },
    { pet: 'dog', name: 'Maggie' }
];

findIndex(pets, { pet: 'dog' }); // 0
findIndex(pets, { name: 'Maggie' }); // 1

See: find(), findLastIndex()

findLastIndex(arr, iterator, [thisObj]):Number #

Loops through the items in the Array on the reverse order and returns the index of the first one that passes a truth test (callback).

Returns -1 if no item was found that passes the truth test.


var arr = [1, { a: 1 }, 'foo', 'bar'];
findLastIndex(arr, isString); // 3
findLastIndex(arr, isNumber); // 0
findLastIndex(arr, isObject); // 1
findLastIndex(arr, isRegExp); // -1

findLastndex also supports shorthand notation:


var pets = [
    { pet: 'dog', name: 'Sam' },
    { pet: 'dog', name: 'Maggie' }
];

findLastIndex(pets, { pet: 'dog' }); // 1
findLastIndex(pets, { name: 'Sam' }); // 0

See: find(), findIndex()

flatten(arr, [level]):Array #

Recursively flattens an array. A new array containing all the elements is returned. If level is specified, it will only flatten up to that level.

Example


flatten([1, [2], [3, [4, 5]]]);
// > [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
flatten([1, [2], [3, [4, 5]]], 1);
// > [1, 2, 3, [4, 5]]

forEach(arr, callback, [thisObj]):void #

Crossbrowser Array.forEach().

It allows exiting the iteration early by returning false on the callback.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).


var items = ['foo', 'bar', 'lorem', 'ipsum'];
forEach(items, function(val, key, arr){
    console.log(key +' : '+ val);
    if (val === 'lorem') {
        // stop iteration (break)
        return false;
    }
});

more info at MDN Array#forEach

groupBy(arr, [categorize=identity], [thisObj]):Object #

Groups array elements by the key returned from the categorize function.

It will use the function/identity as the default categorize function.


var items = ['lorem', 'ipsum', 'foo', 'bar', 'baz'];
groupBy(items, function(val) { return val.length });
// > {'3': ['foo', 'bar', 'baz'], '5': ['lorem', 'ipsum']}

indexOf(arr, item, [fromIndex]):Number #

Crossbrowser Array.indexOf().

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).

more info at MDN Array#indexOf

insert(arr, ...items):Number #

Push items into array only if they aren't contained by it. Returns the new length of the array.

See: remove(), removeAll(), contains()


var arr = ['a', 'b'];
insert(arr, 'a');       // 2 : ['a', 'b']
insert(arr, 'c');       // 3 : ['a', 'b', 'c']
insert(arr, 1, 2, 'b'); // 5 : ['a', 'b', 'c', 1, 2]

intersection(...arrs):Array #

Return a new Array with elements common to all Arrays.

Similar to Python set#intersection and underscore.js intersection.

It will remove duplicates.

See: difference(), xor()


var a = ['a', 'b', 1],
    b = ['c', 1],
    c = [1, 2, 3];
intersection(a, b, c); // [1]

invoke(arr, methodName[, ...args]):Array #

Call methodName on each item of the array passing custom arguments if needed.


invoke([[3,2,1], [9,5,2]], 'sort'); // [[1,2,3], [2,5,9]]

join(arr, [separator]):String #

Joins the strings in arr, inserting separator between each value.

This ignores null values and empty strings that are in the array. separator defaults to an empty string. This will convert all non-string objects in the array to a string.

Example


join(['a', 'b', 'c']); // 'abc'
join(['foo', 'bar'], ', '); // 'foo, bar'
join([null, 'foo', '', 'bar', undefined], ':'); // 'foo:bar'

last(arr):* #

Returns the last element of an array without modifying the array.


last( [1, 2, 3, 4] ) // > 4
last( ['foo', 'bar'] ) // > 'bar'

lastIndexOf(arr, item, [fromIndex]):Number #

Crossbrowser Array.lastIndexOf().

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).

more info at MDN Array#lastIndexOf

map(arr, callback, [thisObj]]):Array #

Crossbrowser Array.map().

Creates a new array with the results of calling a provided function on every element in this array.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).

See: collect()


var nums = [1,2,3,4];
var double = map(nums, function(val, key, arr){
    return val * 2;
});
// > [2, 4, 6, 8]

more info at MDN Array#map

It also supports a shorthand notation which can be used to achieve same result as array/pluck:


var src = ['lorem', 'ipsum', 'foo', 'amet'];
// grab the "length" property of all items
var lengths = map(src, 'length'); // [5, 5, 3, 4]

max(arr, [iterator], [thisObj]):* #

Returns maximum value inside array or use a custom iterator to define how items should be compared.

See: min()


max([10, 2, 7]); // 10
max(['foo', 'lorem', 'amet'], function(val){
    return val.length;
}); // 'lorem'

It also supports a shorthand notation:


max(['foo', 'lorem', 'amet'], 'length'); // "lorem"

min(arr, [iterator], [thisObj]):* #

Returns minimum value inside array or use a custom iterator to define how items should be compared.

See: max()


min([10, 2, 7]); // 2
min(['foo', 'lorem', 'amet'], function(val){
    return val.length;
}); // 'foo'

It also supports a shorthand notation:


min(['foo', 'lorem', 'amet'], 'length'); // "foo"

pick(arr, [nItems]):* #

Gets random item(s) and removes it from the original array.

If nItems is specified it will return a new Array contained the picked items otherwise it returns a single item.

See: random/choice()

Example:


var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
var item1 = pick(arr); // 4
var item2 = pick(arr); // 1
var items = pick(arr, 2); // [5, 2]
console.log(arr); // [3, 6]

pluck(arr, propName):Array #

Extract a list of property values.

See: function/prop()


var users = [{name : 'John', age: 21}, {name: 'Jane', age : 27}];
var names = pluck(users, 'name'); // ["John", "Jane"]
var ages = pluck(users, 'age'); // [21, 27]

range([start], stop[, step]):Array #

Creates a new Array with all the values inside the range. Works similarly to Python#range or PHP#range.

Arguments

  1. [start] (Number) : Range start. Default is 0.
  2. stop (Number) : Range limit.
  3. [step] (Number) : Step size. Default is 1.

Example


range(5);         // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
range(0, 5);      // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
range(0, 5, 2);   // [0, 2, 4]
range(20, 40, 5); // [20, 25, 30, 35, 40]

reduce(arr, fn):* #

Crossbrowser Array.reduce().

Apply a function against an accumulator and each value of the array (from left-to-right) as to reduce it to a single value.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).

more info at MDN Array#reduce

reduceRight(arr, fn):* #

Crossbrowser Array.reduceRight().

Apply a function simultaneously against two values of the array (from right-to-left) as to reduce it to a single value.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).

more info at MDN Array#reduceRight

reject(arr, fn, thisObj):Array #

Creates a new array with all the elements that do not pass the truth test. Opposite of filter().

See filter()

Example


var numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
reject(numbers, function(x) { return (x % 2) !== 0; }); // [2, 4, 6]

It also supports a shorthand syntax:


var users = [
    {name:'john', surname:'connor', beard:false},
    {name:'john', surname:'doe', beard:true},
    {name:'jane', surname:'doe', beard:false}
];
// reject items that matches all properties/values pairs
reject(arr, {name:'john'});
// > [{name:'jane', surnname:'doe', beard:false}]
// reject items where 'beard' is a truthy value
filter(arr, 'beard');
// > [{name:'john', surnname:'connor', beard:false},
//    {name:'jane', surname:'doe', beard:false}]

remove(arr, item):void #

Remove a single item from the array.

IMPORTANT: it won't remove duplicates, just a single item.

Example


var foo = [1, 2, 3, 4];
remove(foo, 2);
console.log(foo); // [1, 3, 4]

removeAll(arr, item):void #

Remove all instances of an item from the array.

Example


var foo = [1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2];
removeAll(foo, 2);
console.log(foo); // [1, 3, 4];

shuffle(arr):Array #

Returns a new Array with items randomly sorted (shuffled). Similar to Ruby Array#shuffle.

Example


var arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'];
shuffle(arr); // ['b', 'd', 'e', 'c', 'a']

slice(arr, [start], [end]):Array #

Returns a new array containing the items from arr from the start index to the end index.

If start is omitted, it will start at 0. If end is omitted, it will used the last index of the array. If start or end is negative, it is used as an offset from the end of the array.

It will also convert array-like objects to arrays.

Example


slice([1, 2, 3, 4], 1, 2); // [2, 3]
slice([1, 2, 3], 1); // [2, 3]
slice([1, 2, 3]); // [1, 2, 3]
slice({ length: 2, 0: 'a', 1: 'b' }); // ['a', 'b']
slice([1, 2, 3], 0, -1); // [1, 2]
slice([1, 2, 3], -2); // [2, 3]

some(arr, callback, [thisObj]):Array #

Crossbrowser Array.some().

Tests whether some element in the array passes the test implemented by the provided function.

It differs from ES5 since it will also loop over sparse items in the array to normalize the behavior across browsers (avoid inconsistencies).


var items = [1, 'foo', 'bar'];
some(items, isString);   // true
some(items, isFunction); // false

more info at MDN Array#some

It also supports a shorthand syntax:


var items = [{id:1, active:true}, {id:3, active:false}, {id:8, active:false}];
// at least one item with `id === 8`
some(items, {id:8}); // true
// `active` is truthy on at least one item
some(items, 'active'); // true

see also: object/matches

sort(arr, [compareFn]):Array #

Returns a sorted Array using the Merge Sort algorithm (stable sort).

The Array.prototype.sort browser implementations differ since the sorting algorithm isn't described in the ES spec - in V8 it isn't stable and on Firefox it is stable - so this function doesn't use the browser native implementation and is recommended in cases where a stable sort is required (items should preserve same order if already sorted).

Important: It does logical comparisson by default (greater/less than) and not a string comparisson like the native Array#sort.

compareFn

If compareFn is supplied elements are sorted based on the value returned by the compareFn.

See: sortBy

Example


sort([187, 23, 47, 987, 12, 59, 0]); // [0, 12, 23, 47, 59, 187, 987]
sort(['a', 'z', 'c', 'beta', 'b']); // ['a', 'b', 'beta', 'c', 'z']

// ['sit', 'amet', 'lorem', 'ipsum']
sort(['lorem', 'ipsum', 'sit', 'amet'], function(a, b){
    // sort by length, items with same length
    // will keep the relative order (stable)
    return a.length - b.length;
});

// [4, 3, 2, 1]
sort([2, 3, 1, 4], function(a, b){
    // reverse sort
    return b - a;
});

sortBy(arr, callback, [context]):Array #

Returns an array sorted by the result of the callback.

The callback is called for each item that is to be sorted, and the results of the callback are used to sort the array. The callback is called with the item as the first parameter, optionally with the provided context.

It also supports a shorthand notation which can be used to sort by a property name.

See: sort


// Returns [{ a: 1 }, { a: 2 }, { a: 3 }]
sortBy([{ a: 1 }, { a: 3 }, { a: 2 }],
    function(item) { return item.a; });

// Same as above, using shorthand notation
sortBy([{ a: 1 }, { a: 3 }, { a: 2 }], 'a');

split(arr, [segments]):Array #

Splits an array into a fixed number of segments.

The number of segments is specified by segments and defaults to 2. If the array cannot be evenly split, the first segments will contain the extra items. If arr is empty, an empty array is returned. If arr.length is less than segments, then the resulting array will have arr.length number of single-element arrays.

Example


split([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], 3) // [ [1, 2], [3, 4], [5] ]
split([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]) // [ [1, 2, 3], [4, 5] ]
split([]) // []
split([1, 2], 3) // [ [1], [2] ]

toLookup(arr, key):Object #

Create an object that indexes the items in the array by a key. If key is a function, the key for each value in the resulting object will be the result of calling the function with the value as an argument. Otherwise key specifies the property on each value to use as the key.

Example


var foo = [{ name: 'a', thing: 1 }, { name: 'b', thing: 2 }];
// { a: { name: 'a', thing: 1 }, b: { name: 'b', thing: 2 } }
toLookup(foo, 'name');
// same as above
toLookup(foo, function (value) { return value.name; });

union(...arrs):Array #

Concat multiple arrays removing duplicates.


var a = ['a', 'b'],
    b = ['c', 'a'],
    c = [1, 'b', 2, 3, 'a'];

//note that unique remove from begin to end
union(a, b, c); // ['c', 1, 'b', 2, 3, 'a']

unique(arr, [compare]):Array #

Return a new Array of unique items.

IMPORTANT: duplicates are removed starting from begining of array.


var arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 4];
var foo = unique(arr);
console.log(foo);
// > [1, 3, 2, 4];

// you also have the option to set a custom compare function
var users = [{name: 'john'}, {name: 'paul'}, {name: 'john'}];
var uniqueNames = unique(arr, function(a, b){
    return a.name === b.name;
});
console.log(uniqueNames);
// > [{name: 'paul'}, {name: 'john'}]

xor(arr1, arr2):Array #

Exclusive OR. Returns items that are present in a single array.

Works like Python set#symmetric_difference renamed for brevity.

It will remove duplicates.

See: difference(), intersection()


var a = ['a', 'b', 1];
var b = ['c', 1];
xor(a, b); // ['a', 'b', 'c']

zip(...arrs):Array #

Groups the elements of each array at their corresponding indexes.

Useful for separate data sources that are coordinated through matching array indexes. For a matrix of nested arrays, zip.apply(...) can transpose the matrix in a similar fashion.


// [['moe', 30, true], ['larry', 40, false], ['curly', 50, false]]
zip(['moe', 'larry', 'curly'], [30, 40, 50], [true, false, false]);

For more usage examples check specs inside /tests folder. Unit tests are the best documentation you can get...

Documentation generated by mdoc.