Discover the most concise string within the array

Is there a way to determine the shortest string in a JavaScript array regardless of the number of elements it contains? I attempted using

var min = Math.min(arr[0].length,arr[1].length,arr[2].length);

to find the shortest string among 3 elements in an array. However, I am looking for a solution that does not require specifying the exact number of elements.

Answer №1

Try using the Array#reduce method.

var words = ["aaaa", "aa", "aa", "aaaaa", "a", "aaaaaaaa"];

console.log(
  words.reduce(function(prev, current) {
    return prev.length <= current.length ? prev : current;
  })
)


Alternatively, use the ES6 arrow function

var words = ["aaaa", "aa", "aa", "aaaaa", "a", "aaaaaaaa"];

console.log(
  words.reduce((prev, current) => prev.length <= current.length ? prev : current)
)

Answer №2

Utilize Array#map to generate an array of lengths, followed by applying it to Math.min():

var arr = ['cats', 'giants', 'daughters', 'ice'];
var min = Math.min.apply(Math, arr.map(function(str) { return str.length; }));
console.log(min);

Alternatively, you can use ES6's array spread along with arrow functions:

var arr = ['cats', 'giants', 'daughters', 'ice'];
var min = Math.min(...arr.map(o => o.length));
console.log(min);

Answer №3

You may consider utilizing the Array.prototype.reduce method.

const list = ['tiny', 'huge', 'enormous']

const smallest = (a, b) => a.length <= b.length ? a : b

console.log(
  list.reduce(smallest)
)

Answer №4

let wordsArray = ["apple", "banana", "orange", "grapes", "kiwi"];

console.log(
  wordsArray.reduce(function(x, y) {
    return x.length <= y.length ? x : y;
  })
)

Answer №5

To find the minimum length string in an array, you can utilize Math.min combined with Array#reduce.

var arr = ["aaaa", "aa", "aa", "aaaaa", "a", "aaaaaaaa"];

console.log(
  arr.reduce(function(r, a) {
    return Math.min(r, a.length);
  }, Infinity)
);

Using ES6 syntax:

var arr = ["aaaa", "aa", "aa", "aaaaa", "a", "aaaaaaaa"];

console.log(arr.reduce((r, a) => Math.min(r, a.length), Infinity));

Answer №6

Check out the concise solution provided below for your reference:

let array = ['apples', 'oranges', 'bananas', 'grapes'];    
array.sort(); // apples, bananas, grapes, oranges
let shortest_item = array[0]; // apples

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