JavaScript Array Methods


JavaScript Array length

The length property returns the length (size) of an array:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
let size = fruits.length;
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JavaScript Array toString()

The JavaScript method toString() converts an array to a string of (comma separated) array values.

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = fruits.toString();

Result:

Banana,Orange,Apple,Mango
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JavaScript Array at()

ES2022 intoduced the array method at():

Examples

Get the third element of fruits using at():

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
let fruit = fruits.at(2);
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Get the third element of fruits using []:

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
let fruit = fruits[2];
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The at() method returns an indexed element from an array.

The at() method returns the same as [].

The at() method is supported in all modern browsers since March 2022:

Chrome 92 Edge 92 Firefox 90 Safari 15.4 Opera 78
Apr 2021 Jul 2021 Jul 2021 Mar 2022 Aug 2021

Note

Many languages allows negative bracket indexing like [-1] to access elements from the end of an object / array / string.

This is not possible in JavaScript, because [] is used for accessing both arrays and objects. obj[-1] refers to the value of key -1, not to the last property of the object.

The at() method was introduced in ES2022 to solve this problem.


JavasCript Array join()

The join() method also joins all array elements into a string.

It behaves just like toString(), but in addition you can specify the separator:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = fruits.join(" * ");

Result:

Banana * Orange * Apple * Mango
Try it Yourself »

Popping and Pushing

When you work with arrays, it is easy to remove elements and add new elements.

This is what popping and pushing is:

Popping items out of an array, or pushing items into an array.



JavaScript Array pop()

The pop() method removes the last element from an array:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.pop();
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The pop() method returns the value that was "popped out":

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
let fruit = fruits.pop();
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JavaScript Array push()

The push() method adds a new element to an array (at the end):

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.push("Kiwi");
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The push() method returns the new array length:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
let length = fruits.push("Kiwi");
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Shifting Elements

Shifting is equivalent to popping, but working on the first element instead of the last.


JavaScript Array shift()

The shift() method removes the first array element and "shifts" all other elements to a lower index.

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.shift();
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The shift() method returns the value that was "shifted out":

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
let fruit = fruits.shift();
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JavaScript Array unshift()

The unshift() method adds a new element to an array (at the beginning), and "unshifts" older elements:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.unshift("Lemon");
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The unshift() method returns the new array length:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.unshift("Lemon");
Try it Yourself »

Changing Elements

Array elements are accessed using their index number:

Array indexes start with 0:

[0] is the first array element
[1] is the second
[2] is the third ...

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits[0] = "Kiwi";
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JavaScript Array length

The length property provides an easy way to append a new element to an array:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits[fruits.length] = "Kiwi";
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JavaScript Array delete()

Warning !

Using delete() leaves undefined holes in the array.

Use pop() or shift() instead.

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
delete fruits[0];
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Merging Arrays (Concatenating)

In programming languages, concatenation means joining strings end-to-end.

Concatenation "snow" and "ball" gives "snowball".

Concatenating arrays means joining arrays end-to-end.


JavaScript Array concat()

The concat() method creates a new array by merging (concatenating) existing arrays:

Example (Merging Two Arrays)

const myGirls = ["Cecilie", "Lone"];
const myBoys = ["Emil", "Tobias", "Linus"];

const myChildren = myGirls.concat(myBoys);
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Note

The concat() method does not change the existing arrays. It always returns a new array.

The concat() method can take any number of array arguments.

Example (Merging Three Arrays)

const arr1 = ["Cecilie", "Lone"];
const arr2 = ["Emil", "Tobias", "Linus"];
const arr3 = ["Robin", "Morgan"];
const myChildren = arr1.concat(arr2, arr3);
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The concat() method can also take strings as arguments:

Example (Merging an Array with Values)

const arr1 = ["Emil", "Tobias", "Linus"];
const myChildren = arr1.concat("Peter"); 
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Array copyWithin()

The copyWithin() method copies array elements to another position in an array:

Examples

Copy to index 2, all elements from index 0:

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.copyWithin(2, 0);
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Copy to index 2, the elements from index 0 to 2:

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango", "Kiwi"];
fruits.copyWithin(2, 0, 2);
Try it Yourself »

Note

The copyWithin() method overwrites the existing values.

The copyWithin() method does not add items to the array.

The copyWithin() method does not change the length of the array.


Flattening an Array

Flattening an array is the process of reducing the dimensionality of an array.

Flattening is useful when you want to convert a multi-dimensional array into a one-dimensional array.


JavaScript Array flat()

ES2019 Introduced the Array flat() method.

The flat() method creates a new array with sub-array elements concatenated to a specified depth.

Example

const myArr = [[1,2],[3,4],[5,6]];
const newArr = myArr.flat();
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Browser Support

JavaScript Array flat() is supported in all modern browsers since January 2020:

Chrome 69 Edge 79 Firefox 62 Safari 12 Opera 56
Sep 2018 Jan 2020 Sep 2018 Sep 2018 Sep 2018

Splicing and Slicing Arrays

The splice() method adds new items to an array.

The slice() method slices out a piece of an array.


JavaScript Array splice()

The splice() method can be used to add new items to an array:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.splice(2, 0, "Lemon", "Kiwi");
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The first parameter (2) defines the position where new elements should be added (spliced in).

The second parameter (0) defines how many elements should be removed.

The rest of the parameters ("Lemon" , "Kiwi") define the new elements to be added.

The splice() method returns an array with the deleted items:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.splice(2, 2, "Lemon", "Kiwi");
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Using splice() to Remove Elements

With clever parameter setting, you can use splice() to remove elements without leaving "holes" in the array:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
fruits.splice(0, 1);
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The first parameter (0) defines the position where new elements should be added (spliced in).

The second parameter (1) defines how many elements should be removed.

The rest of the parameters are omitted. No new elements will be added.


JavaScript Array toSpliced()

ES2023 added the Array toSpliced() method as a safe way to splice an array without altering the original array.

The difference between the new toSpliced() method and the old splice() method is that the new method creates a new array, keeping the original array unchanged, while the old method altered the original array.

Example

const months = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr"];
const spliced = months.toSpliced(0, 1);
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JavaScript Array slice()

The slice() method slices out a piece of an array into a new array:

Example

Slice out a part of an array starting from array element 1 ("Orange"):

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Lemon", "Apple", "Mango"];
const citrus = fruits.slice(1);
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Note

The slice() method creates a new array.

The slice() method does not remove any elements from the source array.

Example

Slice out a part of an array starting from array element 3 ("Apple"):

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Lemon", "Apple", "Mango"];
const citrus = fruits.slice(3);
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The slice() method can take two arguments like slice(1, 3).

The method then selects elements from the start argument, and up to (but not including) the end argument.

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Lemon", "Apple", "Mango"];
const citrus = fruits.slice(1, 3);
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If the end argument is omitted, like in the first examples, the slice() method slices out the rest of the array.

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Lemon", "Apple", "Mango"];
const citrus = fruits.slice(2);
Try it Yourself »

Automatic toString()

JavaScript automatically converts an array to a comma separated string when a primitive value is expected.

This is always the case when you try to output an array.

These two examples will produce the same result:

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = fruits.toString();
Try it Yourself »

Example

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = fruits;
Try it Yourself »

Note

All JavaScript objects have a toString() method.


Searching Arrays

Searching arrays are covered in the next chapter of this tutorial.


Sorting Arrays

Sorting arrays covers the methods used to sort arraysg.


Iterating Arrays

Iterating arrays covers methods that operate on all array elements.


Complete Array Reference

For a complete Array reference, go to our:

Complete JavaScript Array Reference.

The reference contains descriptions and examples of all Array properties and methods.

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Use the correct Array method to remove the last item of the fruits array.

const fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple"];
;

Start the Exercise


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