Simplifying Array Manipulation: Eliminating Duplicates with Ease
When working with arrays in JavaScript, it’s not uncommon to encounter duplicate elements that need to be removed. Whether you’re dealing with a small dataset or a massive collection of items, having efficient methods to eliminate duplicates is crucial. Let’s explore two approaches to achieve this goal.
Method 1: Leveraging indexOf() and push()
In this example, we’ll utilize the indexOf() method to check if an element exists in an array, and the push() method to add unique elements to a new array.
const arr = [1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6];
const uniqueArr = [];
for (const element of arr) {
if (uniqueArr.indexOf(element) === -1) {
uniqueArr.push(element);
}
}
console.log(uniqueArr); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]The for...of loop iterates through each element in the arr array. If the indexOf() method returns -1, indicating the element is not in the uniqueArr, it’s added using push().
Method 2: Harnessing the Power of Sets
An alternative approach involves utilizing JavaScript’s built-in Set data structure, which automatically removes duplicate values.
const arr = [1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6];
const uniqueArr = [...new Set(arr)];
console.log(uniqueArr); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]By converting the array to a Set and then using the spread syntax (...) to create a new array, we can efficiently eliminate duplicates.
Further Reading
If you’re interested in exploring more array manipulation techniques, be sure to check out: