/** * @class Array * * In JavaScript, the `Array` property of the global object is a constructor for * array instances. * * An array is a JavaScript object. Note that you shouldn't use it as an * associative array, use {@link Object} instead. * * # Creating an Array * * The following example creates an array, msgArray, with a length of 0, then assigns values to * msgArray[0] and msgArray[99], changing the length of the array to 100. * * var msgArray = new Array(); * msgArray[0] = "Hello"; * msgArray[99] = "world"; * * if (msgArray.length == 100) * print("The length is 100."); * * # Creating a Two-dimensional Array * * The following creates chess board as a two dimensional array of strings. The first move is made by * copying the 'P' in 6,4 to 4,4. The position 4,4 is left blank. * * var board = * [ ['R','N','B','Q','K','B','N','R'], * ['P','P','P','P','P','P','P','P'], * [' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' '], * [' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' '], * [' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' '], * [' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' '], * ['p','p','p','p','p','p','p','p'], * ['r','n','b','q','k','b','n','r']]; * print(board.join('\n') + '\n\n'); * * // Move King's Pawn forward 2 * board[4][4] = board[6][4]; * board[6][4] = ' '; * print(board.join('\n')); * * Here is the output: * * R,N,B,Q,K,B,N,R * P,P,P,P,P,P,P,P * , , , , , , , * , , , , , , , * , , , , , , , * , , , , , , , * p,p,p,p,p,p,p,p * r,n,b,q,k,b,n,r * * R,N,B,Q,K,B,N,R * P,P,P,P,P,P,P,P * , , , , , , , * , , , , , , , * , , , ,p, , , * , , , , , , , * p,p,p,p, ,p,p,p * r,n,b,q,k,b,n,r * * # Accessing array elements * * Array elements are nothing less than object properties, so they are accessed as such. * * var myArray = new Array("Wind", "Rain", "Fire"); * myArray[0]; // "Wind" * myArray[1]; // "Rain" * // etc. * myArray.length; // 3 * * // Even if indices are properties, the following notation throws a syntax error * myArray.2; * * // It should be noted that in JavaScript, object property names are strings. Consequently, * myArray[0] === myArray["0"]; * myArray[1] === myArray["1"]; * // etc. * * // However, this should be considered carefully * myArray[02]; // "Fire". The number 02 is converted as the "2" string * myArray["02"]; // undefined. There is no property named "02" * * # Relationship between length and numerical properties * * An array's length property and numerical properties are connected. Here is some * code explaining how this relationship works. * * var a = []; * * a[0] = 'a'; * console.log(a[0]); // 'a' * console.log(a.length); // 1 * * a[1] = 32; * console.log(a[1]); // 32 * console.log(a.length); // 2 * * a[13] = 12345; * console.log(a[13]); // 12345 * console.log(a.length); // 14 * * a.length = 10; * console.log(a[13]); // undefined, when reducing the length elements after length+1 are removed * console.log(a.length); // 10 * * # Creating an array using the result of a match * * The result of a match between a regular expression and a string can create an array. * This array has properties and elements that provide information about the match. An * array is the return value of RegExp.exec, String.match, and String.replace. To help * explain these properties and elements, look at the following example and then refer * to the table below: * * // Match one d followed by one or more b's followed by one d * // Remember matched b's and the following d * // Ignore case * * var myRe = /d(b+)(d)/i; * var myArray = myRe.exec("cdbBdbsbz"); * * The properties and elements returned from this match are as follows: * * * | Property/Element | Description | Example * |:-----------------|:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:------------------- * | `input` | A read-only property that reflects the original string against which the | cdbBdbsbz * | | regular expression was matched. | * | `index` | A read-only property that is the zero-based index of the match in the string. | 1 * | `[0]` | A read-only element that specifies the last matched characters. | dbBd * | `[1], ...[n]` | Read-only elements that specify the parenthesized substring matches, if included in | [1]: bB [2]: d * | | the regular expression. The number of possible parenthesized substrings is unlimited. | * * <div class="notice"> * Documentation for this class comes from <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array">MDN</a> * and is available under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">Creative Commons: Attribution-Sharealike license</a>. * </div> * */ /** * @method constructor * Creates new Array object. * * @param {Number/Object...} items Either a number that specifies the length of array or any number of items * for the array. */ // Properties /** * @property {Number} length * Reflects the number of elements in an array. * * The value of the `length` property is an integer with a positive sign and a value less than 2 to the 32 * power (232). * * You can set the `length` property to truncate an array at any time. When you extend an array by changing * its `length` property, the number of actual elements does not increase; for example, if you set `length` * to 3 when it is currently 2, the array still contains only 2 elements. * * In the following example the array numbers is iterated through by looking at the `length` property to see * how many elements it has. Each value is then doubled. * * var numbers = [1,2,3,4,5]; * for (var i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) { * numbers[i] *= 2; * } * // numbers is now [2,4,6,8,10]; * * The following example shortens the array `statesUS` to a length of 50 if the current `length` is greater * than 50. * * if (statesUS.length > 50) { * statesUS.length=50 * } */ // Mutator methods. These methods modify the array: /** * @method pop * The pop method removes the last element from an array and returns that value to the caller. * * `pop` is intentionally generic; this method can be called or applied to objects resembling * arrays. Objects which do not contain a length property reflecting the last in a series of * consecutive, zero-based numerical properties may not behave in any meaningful manner. * * var myFish = ["angel", "clown", "mandarin", "surgeon"]; * var popped = myFish.pop(); * alert(popped); // Alerts 'surgeon' * * @return {Object} The last element in the array */ /** * @method push * Adds one or more elements to the end of an array and returns the new length of the array. * * `push` is intentionally generic. This method can be called or applied to objects resembling * arrays. The push method relies on a length property to determine where to start inserting * the given values. If the length property cannot be converted into a number, the index used * is 0. This includes the possibility of length being nonexistent, in which case length will * also be created. * * The only native, array-like objects are strings, although they are not suitable in * applications of this method, as strings are immutable. * * ### Adding elements to an array * * The following code creates the sports array containing two elements, then appends two elements * to it. After the code executes, sports contains 4 elements: "soccer", "baseball", "football" * and "swimming". * * var sports = ["soccer", "baseball"]; * sports.push("football", "swimming"); * * @param {Object...} elements The elements to add to the end of the array. * @return {Number} The new length property of the object upon which the method was called. */ /** * @method reverse * Reverses the order of the elements of an array -- the first becomes the last, and the * last becomes the first. * * The reverse method transposes the elements of the calling array object in place, mutating the * array, and returning a reference to the array. * * The following example creates an array myArray, containing three elements, then reverses the array. * * var myArray = ["one", "two", "three"]; * myArray.reverse(); * * This code changes myArray so that: * * - myArray[0] is "three" * - myArray[1] is "two" * - myArray[2] is "one" * * @return {Array} A reference to the array */ /** * @method shift * Removes the first element from an array and returns that element. * * The `shift` method removes the element at the zeroeth index and shifts the values at consecutive * indexes down, then returns the removed value. * * `shift` is intentionally generic; this method can be called or applied to objects resembling * arrays. Objects which do not contain a `length` property reflecting the last in a series of * consecutive, zero-based numerical properties may not behave in any meaningful manner. * * The following code displays the `myFish` array before and after removing its first element. It also * displays the removed element: * * // assumes a println function is defined * var myFish = ["angel", "clown", "mandarin", "surgeon"]; * println("myFish before: " + myFish); * var shifted = myFish.shift(); * println("myFish after: " + myFish); * println("Removed this element: " + shifted); * * This example displays the following: * * myFish before: angel,clown,mandarin,surgeon * myFish after: clown,mandarin,surgeon * Removed this element: angel * * @return {Object} The first element of the array prior to shifting. */ /** * @method sort * Sorts the elements of an array. * * If `compareFunction` is not supplied, elements are sorted by converting them to strings and * comparing strings in lexicographic ("dictionary" or "telephone book," not numerical) order. For * example, "80" comes before "9" in lexicographic order, but in a numeric sort 9 comes before 80. * * If `compareFunction` is supplied, the array elements are sorted according to the return value of * the compare function. If a and b are two elements being compared, then: * If `compareFunction(a, b)` is less than 0, sort `a` to a lower index than `b`. * If `compareFunction(a, b)` returns 0, leave `a` and `b` unchanged with respect to each other, but * sorted with respect to all different elements. Note: the ECMAscript standard does not guarantee * this behaviour, and thus not all browsers respect this. * If `compareFunction(a, b)` is greater than 0, sort `b` to a lower index than `a`. * `compareFunction(a, b)` must always returns the same value when given a specific pair of elements a * and b as its two arguments. If inconsistent results are returned then the sort order is undefined * * So, the compare function has the following form: * * function compare(a, b) * { * if (a is less than b by some ordering criterion) * return -1; * if (a is greater than b by the ordering criterion) * return 1; * // a must be equal to b * return 0; * } * * To compare numbers instead of strings, the compare function can simply subtract `b` from `a`: * * function compareNumbers(a, b) * { * return a - b; * } * * The sort() method can be conveniently used with closures: * * var numbers = [4, 2, 5, 1, 3]; * numbers.sort(function(a, b) { * return a - b; * }); * print(numbers); * * @param {Function} compareFunction Specifies a function that defines the sort order. If omitted, the * array is sorted lexicographically (in dictionary order) according to the string conversion of each * element. * @return {Array} A reference to the array */ /** * @method splice * Adds and/or removes elements from an array. * * If you specify a different number of elements to insert than the number you're removing, the array * will have a different length at the end of the call. * * // assumes a print function is defined * var myFish = ["angel", "clown", "mandarin", "surgeon"]; * print("myFish: " + myFish); * * var removed = myFish.splice(2, 0, "drum"); * print("After adding 1: " + myFish); * print("removed is: " + removed); * * removed = myFish.splice(3, 1); * print("After removing 1: " + myFish); * print("removed is: " + removed); * * removed = myFish.splice(2, 1, "trumpet"); * print("After replacing 1: " + myFish); * print("removed is: " + removed); * * removed = myFish.splice(0, 2, "parrot", "anemone", "blue"); * print("After replacing 2: " + myFish); * print("removed is: " + removed); * * This script displays: * * myFish: angel,clown,mandarin,surgeon * After adding 1: angel,clown,drum,mandarin,surgeon * removed is: * After removing 1: angel,clown,drum,surgeon * removed is: mandarin * After replacing 1: angel,clown,trumpet,surgeon * removed is: drum * After replacing 2: parrot,anemone,blue,trumpet,surgeon * removed is: angel,clown * * @param {Number} index Index at which to start changing the array. If negative, will begin that * many elements from the end. * @param {Number} howMany An integer indicating the number of old array elements to remove. If * `howMany` is 0, no elements are removed. In this case, you should specify at least one new element. * If no `howMany` parameter is specified all elements after index are removed. * @param {Object...} elements The elements to add to the array. If you don't specify any * elements, `splice` simply removes elements from the array. * @return {Array} An array containing the removed elements. If only one element is removed, an array * of one element is returned.. */ /** * @method unshift * Adds one or more elements to the front of an array and returns the new length of the array. * * The `unshift` method inserts the given values to the beginning of an array-like object. * * `unshift` is intentionally generic; this method can be called or applied to objects resembling * arrays. Objects which do not contain a `length` property reflecting the last in a series of * consecutive, zero-based numerical properties may not behave in any meaningful manner. * * The following code displays the myFish array before and after adding elements to it. * * // assumes a println function exists * myFish = ["angel", "clown"]; * println("myFish before: " + myFish); * unshifted = myFish.unshift("drum", "lion"); * println("myFish after: " + myFish); * println("New length: " + unshifted); * * This example displays the following: * * myFish before: ["angel", "clown"] * myFish after: ["drum", "lion", "angel", "clown"] * New length: 4 * * @param {Object...} elements The elements to add to the front of the array. * @return {Number} The array's new length. */ // Accessor methods. These methods do not modify the array and return some representation of the array. /** * @method concat * Returns a new array comprised of this array joined with other array(s) and/or value(s). * * `concat` creates a new array consisting of the elements in the `this` object on which it is called, * followed in order by, for each argument, the elements of that argument (if the argument is an * array) or the argument itself (if the argument is not an array). * * `concat` does not alter `this` or any of the arrays provided as arguments but instead returns a * "one level deep" copy that contains copies of the same elements combined from the original arrays. * Elements of the original arrays are copied into the new array as follows: * Object references (and not the actual object): `concat` copies object references into the new * array. Both the original and new array refer to the same object. That is, if a referenced object is * modified, the changes are visible to both the new and original arrays. * Strings and numbers (not {@link String} and {@link Number} objects): `concat` copies the values of * strings and numbers into the new array. * * Any operation on the new array will have no effect on the original arrays, and vice versa. * * ### Concatenating two arrays * * The following code concatenates two arrays: * * var alpha = ["a", "b", "c"]; * var numeric = [1, 2, 3]; * * // creates array ["a", "b", "c", 1, 2, 3]; alpha and numeric are unchanged * var alphaNumeric = alpha.concat(numeric); * * ### Concatenating three arrays * * The following code concatenates three arrays: * * var num1 = [1, 2, 3]; * var num2 = [4, 5, 6]; * var num3 = [7, 8, 9]; * * // creates array [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]; num1, num2, num3 are unchanged * var nums = num1.concat(num2, num3); * * ### Concatenating values to an array * * The following code concatenates three values to an array: * * var alpha = ['a', 'b', 'c']; * * // creates array ["a", "b", "c", 1, 2, 3], leaving alpha unchanged * var alphaNumeric = alpha.concat(1, [2, 3]); * * @param {Object...} values Arrays and/or values to concatenate to the resulting array. * @return {Array} New array. */ /** * @method join * Joins all elements of an array into a string. * * The string conversions of all array elements are joined into one string. * * The following example creates an array, `a`, with three elements, then joins the array three times: * using the default separator, then a comma and a space, and then a plus. * * var a = new Array("Wind","Rain","Fire"); * var myVar1 = a.join(); // assigns "Wind,Rain,Fire" to myVar1 * var myVar2 = a.join(", "); // assigns "Wind, Rain, Fire" to myVar2 * var myVar3 = a.join(" + "); // assigns "Wind + Rain + Fire" to myVar3 * * @param {String} separator Specifies a string to separate each element of the array. The separator * is converted to a string if necessary. If omitted, the array elements are separated with a comma. * @return {String} A string of the array elements. */ /** * @method slice * Extracts a section of an array and returns a new array. * * `slice` does not alter the original array, but returns a new "one level deep" copy that contains * copies of the elements sliced from the original array. Elements of the original array are copied * into the new array as follows: * * For object references (and not the actual object), `slice` copies object references into the * new array. Both the original and new array refer to the same object. If a referenced object * changes, the changes are visible to both the new and original arrays. * * For strings and numbers (not {@link String} and {@link Number} objects), `slice` copies strings * and numbers into the new array. Changes to the string or number in one array does not affect the * other array. * * If a new element is added to either array, the other array is not affected. * * ### Using slice * * In the following example, `slice` creates a new array, `newCar`, from `myCar`. Both include a * reference to the object `myHonda`. When the color of `myHonda` is changed to purple, both arrays * reflect the change. * * // Using slice, create newCar from myCar. * var myHonda = { color: "red", wheels: 4, engine: { cylinders: 4, size: 2.2 } }; * var myCar = [myHonda, 2, "cherry condition", "purchased 1997"]; * var newCar = myCar.slice(0, 2); * * // Print the values of myCar, newCar, and the color of myHonda * // referenced from both arrays. * print("myCar = " + myCar.toSource()); * print("newCar = " + newCar.toSource()); * print("myCar[0].color = " + myCar[0].color); * print("newCar[0].color = " + newCar[0].color); * * // Change the color of myHonda. * myHonda.color = "purple"; * print("The new color of my Honda is " + myHonda.color); * * // Print the color of myHonda referenced from both arrays. * print("myCar[0].color = " + myCar[0].color); * print("newCar[0].color = " + newCar[0].color); * * This script writes: * * myCar = [{color:"red", wheels:4, engine:{cylinders:4, size:2.2}}, 2, "cherry condition", * "purchased 1997"] * newCar = [{color:"red", wheels:4, engine:{cylinders:4, size:2.2}}, 2] * myCar[0].color = red * newCar[0].color = red * The new color of my Honda is purple * myCar[0].color = purple * newCar[0].color = purple * * @param {Number} begin Zero-based index at which to begin extraction. * As a negative index, `start` indicates an offset from the end of the sequence. `slice(-2)` extracts * the second-to-last element and the last element in the sequence * @param {Number} end Zero-based index at which to end extraction. `slice` extracts up to but not * including `end`. * `slice(1,4)` extracts the second element through the fourth element (elements indexed 1, 2, and 3). * As a negative index, end indicates an offset from the end of the sequence. `slice(2,-1)` extracts * the third element through the second-to-last element in the sequence. * If `end` is omitted, `slice` extracts to the end of the sequence. * @return {Array} Array from the new start position up to (but not including) the specified end position. */ /** * @method toString * Returns a string representing the array and its elements. Overrides the `Object.prototype.toString` * method. * * The {@link Array} object overrides the `toString` method of {@link Object}. For Array objects, the * `toString` method joins the array and returns one string containing each array element separated by * commas. For example, the following code creates an array and uses `toString` to convert the array * to a string. * * var monthNames = new Array("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr"); * myVar = monthNames.toString(); // assigns "Jan,Feb,Mar,Apr" to myVar * * JavaScript calls the `toString` method automatically when an array is to be represented as a text * value or when an array is referred to in a string concatenation. * * @return {String} The array as a string. */