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Ilya Kantor 2016-07-21 17:05:55 +03:00
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The result is `4`:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apples", "Pear", "Orange"];
let shoppingCart = fruits;
shoppingCart.push("Banana");
*!*
alert( fruits.length ); // 4
*/!*
```
That's because arrays are objects. So both `shoppingCart` and `fruits` are the references to the same array.

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importance: 3
---
# Is array copied?
What this code is going to show?
```js
let fruits = ["Apples", "Pear", "Orange"];
// push a new value into the "copy"
let shoppingCart = fruits;
shoppingCart.push("Banana");
// what's in fruits?
alert( fruits.length ); // ?
```

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function getMaxSubSum(arr) {
let maxSum = 0;
let partialSum = 0;
for (let item of arr) {
partialSum += item;
maxSum = Math.max(maxSum, partialSum);
if (partialSum < 0) partialSum = 0;
}
return maxSum;
}

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describe("getMaxSubSum", function() {
it("maximal subsum of [1, 2, 3] equals 6", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([1, 2, 3]), 6);
});
it("maximal subsum of [-1, 2, 3, -9] equals 5", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9]), 5);
});
it("maximal subsum of [-1, 2, 3, -9, 11] equals 11", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9, 11]), 11);
});
it("maximal subsum of [-2, -1, 1, 2] equals 3", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([-2, -1, 1, 2]), 3);
});
it("maximal subsum of [100, -9, 2, -3, 5] equals 100", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([100, -9, 2, -3, 5]), 100);
});
it("maximal subsum of [] equals 0", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([]), 0);
});
it("maximal subsum of [-1] equals 0", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([-1]), 0);
});
it("maximal subsum of [-1, -2] equals 0", function() {
assert.equal(getMaxSubSum([-1, -2]), 0);
});
});

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# The slow solution
We can calculate all possible subsums.
The simplest way is to take every element and calculate sums of all subarrays starting from it.
For instance, for `[-1, 2, 3, -9, 11]`:
```js no-beautify
// Starting from -1:
-1
-1 + 2
-1 + 2 + 3
-1 + 2 + 3 + (-9)
-1 + 2 + 3 + (-9) + 11
// Starting from 2:
2
2 + 3
2 + 3 + (-9)
2 + 3 + (-9) + 11
// Starting from 3:
3
3 + (-9)
3 + (-9) + 11
// Starting from -9
-9
-9 + 11
// Starting from -11
-11
```
The code is actually a nested loop: the external loop over array elements, and the internal counts subsums starting with the current element.
```js run
function getMaxSubSum(arr) {
let maxSum = 0; // if we take no elements, zero will be returned
for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
let sumFixedStart = 0;
for (let j = i; j < arr.length; j++) {
sumFixedStart += arr[j];
maxSum = Math.max(maxSum, sumFixedStart);
}
}
return maxSum;
}
alert( getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9]) ); // 5
alert( getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9, 11]) ); // 11
alert( getMaxSubSum([-2, -1, 1, 2]) ); // 3
alert( getMaxSubSum([1, 2, 3]) ); // 6
alert( getMaxSubSum([100, -9, 2, -3, 5]) ); // 100
```
The solution has a time complexety of [O(n<sup>2</sup>)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_O_notation). In other words, if we increase the array size 2 times, the algorithm will work 4 times longer.
For big arrays (1000, 10000 or more items) such algorithms can lead to a seroius sluggishness.
# Fast solution
Let's walk the array and keep the current partial sum of elements in the variable `s`. If `s` becomes negative at some point, then assign `s=0`. The maximum of all such `s` will be the answer.
If the description is too vague, please see the code, it's short enough:
```js run
function getMaxSubSum(arr) {
let maxSum = 0;
let partialSum = 0;
for (let item of arr; i++) { // for each item of arr
partialSum += item; // add it to partialSum
maxSum = Math.max(maxSum, partialSum); // remember the maximum
if (partialSum < 0) partialSum = 0; // zero if negative
}
return maxSum;
}
alert( getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9]) ); // 5
alert( getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9, 11]) ); // 11
alert( getMaxSubSum([-2, -1, 1, 2]) ); // 3
alert( getMaxSubSum([100, -9, 2, -3, 5]) ); // 100
alert( getMaxSubSum([1, 2, 3]) ); // 6
alert( getMaxSubSum([-1, -2, -3]) ); // 0
```
The algorithm requires exactly 1 array pass, so the time complexity is O(n).
You can find more detail information about the algorithm here: [Maximum subarray problem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_subarray_problem). If it's still not obvious why that works, then please trace the algorithm on the examples above, see how it works, that's better than any words.

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importance: 2
---
# A maximal subarray
The input is an array of numbers, e.g. `arr = [1, -2, 3, 4, -9, 6]`.
The task is: find the contiguous subarray of `arr` with the maximal sum of items.
Write the function `getMaxSubSum(arr)` that will find return that sum.
For instance:
```js
getMaxSubSum([-1, *!*2, 3*/!*, -9]) = 5 (the sum of highlighted items)
getMaxSubSum([*!*2, -1, 2, 3*/!*, -9]) = 6
getMaxSubSum([-1, 2, 3, -9, *!*11*/!*]) = 11
getMaxSubSum([-2, -1, *!*1, 2*/!*]) = 3
getMaxSubSum([*!*100*/!*, -9, 2, -3, 5]) = 100
getMaxSubSum([*!*1, 2, 3*/!*]) = 6 (take all)
```
If all items are negative, it means that we take none (the subarray is empty), so the sum is zero:
```js
getMaxSubSum([-1, -2, -3]) = 0
```
Please try to think of a fast solution: [O(n<sup>2</sup>)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_O_notation) or even O(n) if you can.

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```js run
let styles = ["Jazz", "Blues"];
styles.push("Rock-n-Roll");
styles[(styles.length + 1) / 2] = "Classics";
alert( styles.shift() );
styles.unshift("Rap", "Reggie");
```

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importance: 5
---
# Array operations.
Let's try 5 array operations.
1. Create an array `styles` with items "Jazz" and "Blues".
2. Append "Rock-n-Roll" to the end.
3. Replace the value in the middle by "Classics". Your code for finding the middle value should work for any arrays with odd length.
4. Strip off the first value of the array and show it.
5. Prepend `Rap` and `Reggie` to the array.
The array in the process:
```js no-beautify
Jazz, Blues
Jazz, Bues, Rock-n-Roll
Jazz, Classics, Rock-n-Roll
Classics, Rock-n-Roll
Rap, Reggie, Classics, Rock-n-Roll
```

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The call `arr[2]()` is syntactically the good old `obj[method]()`, in the role of `obj` we have `arr`, and in the role of `method` we have `2`.
So we have a call of the function `arr[2]` as an object method. Naturally, it receives `this` referencing the object `arr` and outputs the array:
```js run
let arr = ["a", "b"];
arr.push(function() {
alert( this );
})
arr[2](); // "a","b",function
```
The array has 3 values: initially it had two, plus the function.

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importance: 5
---
# Calling in an array context
What is the result? Why?
```js
let arr = ["a", "b"];
arr.push(function() {
alert( this );
})
arr[2](); // ?
```

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Please note the subtle, but important detail of the solution. We don't convert `value` to number instantly after `prompt`, because after `value = +value` we would not be able to tell an empty string (stop sign) from the zero (valid number). We do it later instead.
```js run demo
function sumInput() {
let numbers = [];
while (true) {
let value = prompt("A number please?", 0);
// should we cancel?
if (value === "" || value === null || !isFinite(value)) break;
numbers.push(+value);
}
let sum = 0;
for (let number of numbers) {
sum += number;
}
}
alert( sumInput() );
```

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importance: 4
---
# Sum input numbers
Write the function `sumInput()` that:
- Asks the user for values using `prompt` and stores the values in the array.
- Finishes asking when the user enters a non-numeric value, an empty string, or presses "Cancel".
- Calculates and returns the sum of array items.
P.S. A zero `0` is a valid number, please don't stop the input on zero.
[demo]

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# Arrays
Objects allow to store keyed collections of values. That's fine.
But quite often we find that we need an *ordered collection*, where we have a 1st, a 2nd, a 3rd element and so on. For example, we need that to store a list of something: users, goods, HTML elements etc.
It not convenient to use an object here, because it provides no methods to manage the order of elements. We cant insert a new property “between” the existing ones. Objects are just not meant for such use.
There exists a special data structure named `Array`, to store ordered collections.
[cut]
## Declaration
There are two syntaxes for creating an empty array:
```js
let arr = new Array();
let arr = [];
```
Almost all the time, the second syntax is used. We can supply initial elements in the brackets:
```js
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Plum"];
```
Array elements are numbered, starting with zero.
We can get an element by its number in square brackets:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Plum"];
alert( fruits[0] ); // Apple
alert( fruits[1] ); // Orange
alert( fruits[2] ); // Plum
```
We can replace an element:
```js
fruits[2] = 'Pear'; // now ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"]
```
...Or add a new one to the array:
```js
fruits[3] = 'Lemon'; // now ["Apple", "Orange", "Plum", "Lemon"]
```
The total count of the elements in the array is its `length`:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Plum"];
alert( fruits.length ); // 3
```
We can also use `alert` to show the whole array.
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Plum"];
alert( fruits ); // Apple,Orange,Plum
```
An array can store elements of any type.
For instance:
```js run no-beautify
// mix of values
let arr = [ 'Apple', { name: 'John' }, true, function() { alert('hello'); } ];
// get the object at index 1 and then show its name
alert( arr[1].name ); // John
// get the function at index 3 and run it
arr[3](); // hello
```
````smart header="Trailing comma"
An array, just like an object, may end with a comma:
```js
let fruits = [
"Apple",
"Orange",
"Plum"*!*,*/!*
];
```
The "trailing comma" style makes it easier to insert/remove items, because all lines become alike.
````
## Methods pop/push, shift/unshift
A [queue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queue_(abstract_data_type)) is one of most common uses of an array. In computer science, this means an ordered collection of elements which supports two operations:
- `push` appends an element to the end.
- `shift` get an element from the beginning, advancing the queue, so that the 2nd element becomes the 1st.
![](queue.png)
Arrays support both operations.
In practice we meet it very often. For example, a queue of messages that need to be shown on-screen.
There's another use case for arrays -- the data structure named [stack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_(abstract_data_type)).
It supports two operations:
- `push` adds an element to the end.
- `pop` takes an element to the end.
So new elements are added or taken always from the "end".
A stack is usually illustrated as a pack of cards: new cards are added to the top or taken from the top:
![](stack.png)
For stacks, the latest pushed item is received first, that's also called LIFO (Last-In-First-Out) principle. For queues, we have FIFO (First-In-First-Out).
Arrays in Javascript can work both as a queue and as a stack. They allow to add/remove elements both to/from the beginning or the end.
In computer science the data structure that allows it is called [deque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-ended_queue).
**Methods that work with the end of the array:**
`pop`
: Extracts the last element of the array and returns it:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"];
alert( fruits.pop() ); // remove "Pear" and alert it
alert( fruits ); // Apple, Orange
```
`push`
: Append the element to the end of the array:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange"];
fruits.push("Pear");
alert( fruits ); // Apple, Orange, Pear
```
The call `fruits.push(...)` is equal to `fruits[fruits.length] = ...`.
**Methods that work with the beginning of the array:**
`shift`
: Extracts the first element of the array and returns it:
```js
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"];
alert( fruits.shift() ); // remove Apple and alert it
alert( fruits ); // Orange, Pear
```
`unshift`
: Add the element to the beginning of the array:
```js
let fruits = ["Orange", "Pear"];
fruits.unshift('Apple');
alert( fruits ); // Apple, Orange, Pear
```
Methods `push` and `unshift` can add multiple elements at once:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple"];
fruits.push("Orange", "Peach");
fruits.unshift("Pineapple", "Lemon");
// ["Pineapple", "Lemon", "Apple", "Orange", "Peach"]
alert( fruits );
```
## Internals
An array is a special kind of object. The square brackets used to access a property `arr[0]` actually come from the object syntax. Numbers are used as keys.
They extend objects providing special methods to work with ordered collections of data and also the `length` property. But at the core it's still an object.
Remember, there are only 7 basic types in JavaScript. Array is an object and thus behaves like an object.
For instance, it is copied by reference:
```js run
let fruits = ["Banana"]
let arr = fruits; // copy by reference (two variables reference the same array)
alert( arr === fruits ); // true
arr.push("Pear"); // modify the array by reference
alert( fruits ); // Banana, Pear - 2 items now
```
...But what makes arrays really special is their internal representation. The engine tries to store its elements in the contiguous memory area, one after another, just as painted on the illustrations in this chapter, and there are other optimizations as well, to make arrays work really fast.
But they all break if we quit working with an array as with an "ordered collection" and start working with it as if it were a regular object.
For instance, technically we can do like that:
```js
let fruits = []; // make an array
fruits[99999] = 5; // assign a property with the index far greater than its length
fruits.age = 25; // create a property with an arbitrary name
```
That's possible, because arrays are objects at base. We can add any properties to them.
But the engine will see that we're working with the array as with a regular object. Array-specific optimizations are not suited for such cases and will be turned off, their benefits disappear.
The ways to misuse an array:
- Add a non-numeric property like `arr.test = 5`.
- Make holes, like: add `arr[0]` and then `arr[1000]` (and nothing between them).
- Fill the array in the reverse order, like `arr[1000]`, `arr[999]` and so on.
Please think of arrays as about special structures to work with the *ordered data*. They provide special methods for that. Arrays are carefully tuned inside Javascript engines to work with contiguous ordered data, please use them this way. And if you need arbitrary keys, chances are high that you actually require a regular object `{}`.
## Performance
Methods `push/pop` run fast, while `shift/unshift` are slow.
![](array-speed.png)
Why is it faster to work with the end of an array than with its beginning? Let's see what happens during the execution:
```js
fruits.shift(); // take 1 element from the start
```
It's not enough to take and remove the element with the number `0`. Other elements need to be renumbered as well.
The `shift` operation must do 3 things:
1. Remove the element with the index `0`.
2. Move all elements to the left, renumber them from the index `1` to `0`, from `2` to `1` and so on.
3. Update the `length` property.
![](array-shift.png)
**The more elements in the array, the more time to move them, more in-memory operations.**
The similar thing happens with `unshift`: to add an element to the beginning of the array, we need first to move existing elements to the right, increasing their indexes.
And what's with `push/pop`? They do not need to move anything. To extract an element from the end, the `pop` method cleans the index and shortens `length`.
The actions for the `pop` operation:
```js
fruits.pop(); // take 1 element from the end
```
![](array-pop.png)
**The `pop` method does not need to move anything, because other elements keep their indexes. That's why it's blazingly fast.**
The similar thing with the `push` method.
## Loops
One of the oldest ways to cycle array items is the `for` loop over indexes:
```js run
let arr = ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"];
*!*
for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
*/!*
alert( arr[i] );
}
```
But for arrays there is another form of loop, `for..of`:
```js run
let fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Plum"];
// iterates over array elements
for(let fruit of fruits) {
alert( fruit );
}
```
The `for..of` doesn't give access to the number of the current element, just its value, but in most cases that's enough. And it's shorter.
Technically, because arrays are objects, it is also possible to use `for..in`:
```js run
let arr = ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"];
*!*
for (let key in arr) {
*/!*
alert( arr[key] ); // Apple, Orange, Pear
}
```
But that's actually a bad idea. There are potential problems with it:
1. The loop `for..in` iterates over *all properties*, not only the numeric ones.
There are so-called "array-like" objects in the browser and in other environments, that *look like arrays*. That is, they have `length` and indexes properties, but they have *other non-numeric properties and methods*, which we usually don't need in the loop. The `for..in` will list them. If we need to work with array-like objects, then these "extra" properties can become a problem.
2. The `for..in` loop is optimized for generic objects, not arrays, and thus is 10-100 times slower. Of course, it's still very fast. The speedup maybe important in few places bottlenecks or just irrelevant. But still we should be aware of the difference.
Generally, we shouldn't use `for..in` for arrays.
## A word about "length"
The `length` property automatically updates when we modify the array. To be precies, it is actually not the count of values in the array, but the greatest numeric index plus one.
For instance, a single element with a large index gives a big length:
```js run
let fruits = [];
fruits[123] = "Apple";
alert( fruits.length ); // 124
```
Note that we usually don't use arrays like that.
Another interesting thing about the `length` property is that it's writable.
If we increase it manually, nothing interesting happens. But if we decrease it, the array is truncated. The process is irreversable, here's the example:
```js run
let arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
arr.length = 2; // truncate to 2 elements
alert( arr ); // [1, 2]
arr.length = 5; // return length back
alert( arr[3] ); // undefined: the values do not return
```
So, the simplest way to clear the array is: `arr.length=0`.
## new Array() [#new-array]
There is one more syntax to create an array:
```js
let arr = *!*new Array*/!*("Apple", "Pear", "etc");
```
It's rarely used, because square brackets `[]` are shorter. Also there's a tricky feature with it.
If `new Array` is called with a single argument which is a number, then it creates an array *without items, but with the given length*.
Let's see how one can shoot himself in the foot:
```js run
let arr = new Array(2); // will it create an array of [2] ?
alert( arr[0] ); // undefined! no elements.
alert( arr.length ); // length 2
```
In the code above, `new Array(number)` has all elements `undefined`.
To evade such surprises, we usually use square brackets, unless we really know what we're doing.
## Multidimentional arrays
Arrays can have items that are also arrays. We can use it for multidimentional arrays, to store matrices:
```js run
let matrix = [
[1, 2, 3],
[4, 5, 6],
[7, 8, 9]
];
alert( matrix[1][1] ); // the central element
```
## toString
Arrays have their own implementation of `toString` method that returns a comma-separated list of elements.
For instance:
```js run
let arr = [1, 2, 3];
alert( arr ); // 1,2,3
alert( String(arr) === '1,2,3' ); // true
```
Also, let's try this:
```js run
alert( [] + 1 ); // "1"
alert( [1] + 1 ); // "11"
alert( [1,2] + 1 ); // "1,21"
```
Arrays do not have `Symbol.toPrimitive`, neither a viable `valueOf`, they implement only `toString` conversion, so here `[]` becomes an empty string, `[1]` becomes `"1"` and `[1,2]` becomes `"1,2".
When the binary plus `"+"` operator adds something to a string, it converts it to a string as well, so the next step looks like this:
```js run
alert( "" + 1 ); // "1"
alert( "1" + 1 ); // "11"
alert( "1,2" + 1 ); // "1,21"
```
## Summary
Array is a special kind of objects, suited to store and manage ordered data items.
- The declaration:
```js
// square brackets (usual)
let arr = [item1, item2...];
// new Array (exceptionally rare)
let arr = new Array(item1, item2...);
```
The call to `new Array(number)` creates an array with the given length, but without elements.
- The `length` property is the array length or, to be precise, its last numeric index plus one. It is auto-adjusted by array methods.
- If we shorten `length` manually, the array is truncated.
We can use an array as a deque with the following operations:
- `push(...items)` adds `items` to the end.
- `pop()` removes the element from the end and returns it.
- `shift()` removes the element from the beginning and returns it.
- `unshift(...items)` adds items to the beginning.
To loop over the elements of the array:
- `for(let i=0; i<arr.length; i++)` -- works fastest, old-browser-compatible.
- `for(let item of arr)` -- the modern syntax for items only,
- `for(let i in arr)` -- never use.
That were the "extended basics". There are more methods, and in the future chapter <mdn:array-methods> we will return to them.

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