In Javascript it is possible to use a number (integer) or a string (or a char) to index an array for example:
array[0] = true;
or
array['0'] = true;
Does the computer memory work different depending on how you index the array or is it the exact same thing to do it both ways?
The indexes are stored internally as strings.
But it's more common practise to use numbers to access an array by it's index.
A property name P (in the form of a String value) is an array index if and only if ToString(ToUint32(P)) is equal to P and ToUint32(P) is not equal to 2^³²−1
It's explained in this old post
Below is a snippet that showcases it.
Accessing the index with a string works fine as long that index string only contains digits.
But by expressing the index as a word then it can only be accessed with that word. And console logging the array doesn't show it.
let arr = [0,'a one','a two','a three'];
arr['four'] = 'a four';
arr.push('5');
arr.push(6);
arr.push([7,'7']);
arr.push({a:8, b:'8'});
console.log('\nLog the array:\n\n');
console.log(arr);
console.log('\nAccessing the array:\n\n');
console.log("arr[0]:\t" + arr[0]);
console.log("arr[\'1\']:\t" + arr['1']);
console.log("arr[\'two\']:\t" + arr['two']);
let i=2;
console.log("arr[++i]:\t" + arr[++i]);
console.log("arr[\'four\']:\t" + arr['four']);
console.log('arr[4]:\t'+ arr[4]);
console.log('arr[5]:\t'+ arr[5]);
console.log('\nListing the types in the array:\n\n');
for (var a in arr) console.log(a+'\tindex type: '+ typeof a +', value: '+ arr[a] + ', value type: '+ typeof arr[a]);And here's a snippet to compare speed between using a number or a string in your browser. It should take roughly the same time.
let arr1 = [];
console.time('Access array through string');
for(let i = 0; i <= 42000000;i++){
arr1['42000000'] = 42;
}
console.timeEnd('Access array through string');
let arr2 = [];
console.time('Access array through integer');
for(let i = 0; i <= 42000000;i++){
arr2[42000000] = 42;
}
console.timeEnd('Access array through integer');
The answer is simple: there is no difference.
Javascript arrays are objects. All keys of objects are strings (or symbols), but never numbers.
Property names must be strings. This means that non-string objects cannot be used as keys in the object. Any non-string object, including a number, is typecasted into a string via the toString method. ...see more here
The property accessor [] converts to string first before looking for the property. (some engines may optimize this step and not perform a proper toString call, but it's of no concern here)
So array[0] is interpreted as array['0'].
const a = {
toString: function () {
console.log("a.toString called")
return "1";
}
};
const array = ['a','b','c'];
console.log(array[a]);
When you use quotations for indexing, you're creating a key-value pair in the array. I recommended you stick to numerical notation unless you're intentionally creating those pairs; while array['0'] technically posts to the position, it's bad practice.
Even though myArr['two'] doesn't seem to want to show up in the snippet output, if you hit F12 and look at the console output, you'll clearly see it displayed.
["String 0", "String 1", two: "String 2"]
let myArr = [];
myArr[0] = "String 0";
myArr['1'] = "String 1";
myArr['two'] = "String 2";
console.log(myArr);
As the mdn docs state, https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array
Arrays are actually just objects that have array-like properties. Keys in JavaScript are strings. So when you see an array, it's actually just a set of key-value pairs, where the keys are index numbers.
Arrays are a special data type. Adding keys that do not correlate to possible indexes are added to an 'object property collection' and are not returned when you use the object.
I think the chrome console does the best job of displaying this:
This array is actually an object with keys of 0 1 2 3, a length property, and a prototype.
