In JavaScript, arrays are typically implemented using which data structure?

We are currently studying arrays in computer science and how they occupy a continuous range of memory space.

In a traditional array, you are unable to insert or delete elements without shifting other elements around.

For example:

const arr = ['a', 'b', 'd'];

arr.splice(2, 0, 'c'); // arr now equals ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']

Does this mean that arrays are not handled as typical arrays in JavaScript?

Could it be using a linked list instead?

I'm not looking for detailed specifications, but rather in a common implementation of the language in browsers or Node.js, what method is likely being employed?

This 10 year old+ Q/A discusses the topic but doesn't give a clear answer, so please do not flag it as a duplicate.

The actual underlying representation may vary between different browsers (or maybe not).

What is the most probable underlying data structure being used?

Answer №1

Arrays in JavaScript can be implemented in various ways depending on what you input into them, such as numbers, other arrays, or objects.

During runtime, the JavaScript engine determines how to best implement the array.

The two most common implementations are C++ arrays and Linked Lists.

To learn more about how JavaScript arrays work under the hood, check out this article.

Similar questions

If you have not found the answer to your question or you are interested in this topic, then look at other similar questions below or use the search

The i18next.t function is returning an undefined value

I am experiencing an issue with my application's routes, as the .js file that contains them seems to be causing the problem: import i18n from "i18next"; const dashRoutes = [ // ... { path: "/user-profile", navbarName: ...

Bringing a .json Model into Three.js

Exploring Three.js for the first time and struggling with importing a .json model obtained from Clara.io For instance, I have downloaded this model: However, I can't seem to understand how to embed it into an HTML file. :( I attempted the following ...

Here are the steps to divide an array of objects into separate objects based on their keys

The data I currently have is formatted like this: [{ "Consumer": [{ "Associated ID": "JSUDB2LXXX / BIC 7503 / US", "Parent Consumer": "7503" }], "Owner": [{ &qu ...

Updating traditional C for loops to more modern Swift loops

I have an older version of Xcode, specifically 7.3 with Swift 2 code. I am looking to update these two for loops to the latest syntax used in Swift 3. fileprivate func collapseSubItemsAtIndex(_ index : Int) { var indexPaths = [IndexPath]() let ...

The issue of drop shadows causing links to not work properly in Internet Explorer

I am currently working on a website design that features a fixed menu positioned behind the body. When the menu icon is clicked, some jQuery code shifts the body to the left. To create the effect of the fixed menu being positioned underneath, I have added ...

Highcharts JavaScript - Sankey Graph Axis Orientation

As I work on developing a Sankey Diagram using the Highcharts JS library, I have encountered an issue with setting the axis. Can anyone advise whether it is feasible to utilize xAxis and yAxis in a Sankey diagram? I attempted to define the axis as shown b ...

Difficulty in Verifying ECDSA Signatures Across React and Python Environments

Currently, I am tackling a project that requires me to create an ECDSA signature in a React application and then validate it in a Python backend. Although the signature generation and validation processes work perfectly within their respective environments ...

Vue Mutation IndexOf returns a value of -1

Hey everyone! I'm facing a challenge with deleting a "product." Although the product is successfully removed from the database, I'm encountering an issue with removing it from the VuexStore array of products. Here's what I've tried so f ...

hosting a NextJS development server on the local network

When launching ReactJS with the npm start command, the development server is opened on both localhost:3000 and the network at 192.168.1.2:3000. Testing the app on various devices was a breeze thanks to this setup. Now that I've delved into learning N ...

I must eliminate any rows in a table that do not include the specified [string]

I have a task to remove specific rows from a table that do not contain a certain string. $(document).ready(function() { var str = "b"; $("#mytable tr td:not(:contains(str))").parent().remove(); }); //this approach is not produci ...

What could be causing the issue with my custom AlloyEditor UI extension?

After following the instructions in this guide to integrate alloyeditor as a WYSIWYG editor into Contentful, I successfully added the extension to my contentful staging space. However, despite copying the html page from the github repository and includin ...

Error encountered in Jest (a testing tool for React) - Parse Error: Line 1 contains an invalid import declaration

Currently, I am utilizing node.js version 0.10.x and jest version 0.4.x to conduct tests on react.js. Prior to testing my react components, I was utilizing node.js version 0.12.x. I switched to version 0.10.x using nvm. I proceeded to rebuild all modules ...

Is it possible to utilize the expose method to retrieve additional reactive variables and computed properties similar to methods in Vue 3?

Switching my application from Vue 2 to Vue 3 has been quite a journey. I've utilized the Composition API to refactor my previous render function into the setup hook. One interesting discovery was the ability to expose methods using context.expose({}). ...

NodeJS package 'jquery' npm not functioning properly (issue with $.on())

I've successfully installed and loaded jquery by using $ = require('jquery'); However, when I attempt to utilize it: app.get('/', function (req, res) { res.render('index'); $.on('ready', function () { ...

The page simply refreshes without actually redirecting to the intended page

I'm attempting to make a button redirect to the home page, but instead of redirecting it just keeps refreshing the current page. <script type="text/javascript"> function goToHomePage(){ location.replace("index.php" ...

Troubleshooting problems with dropdown binding in Knockout ObservableArray

I am encountering an issue with fetching data from a restful wcf service during page load and binding it to a dropdown, which is not functioning as expected. function CreateItem(name, value) { var self = this; self.itemNam ...

Sending Arrays to PHP Extension

I am facing a challenge in passing two arrays from PHP to a C extension module that has been compiled with the PHP source code. One array will contain integers while the other will consist of strings. While I have some understanding of both PHP and C, navi ...

Customize the color of plot points in R highcharter based on their values

I'm diving into the world of highcharts and R highcharter for the first time. Currently, I have a dataframe structured like this: tmp <- data.frame(x = 1:5, y = rnorm(5), color = c("green", "red", "green", "orange", "red")) # x y color # 1 ...

What distinguishes running rm -rf node_modules + npm i from using npm ci?

When using a Unix system and needing to clean out the node modules folder, is there any benefit or distinction between executing rm -rf node_modules followed by npm i as opposed to npm ci My understanding is that both yield the same outcome, but is th ...

Setting a default value in ng-options can be accomplished by using the ng-init

One way to set a dropdown list with a default value in AngularJS is by using the following code: <select name="repeatSelect" id="repeatSelect" ng-model="repeatSelect" ng-init="repeatSelect = data[0].id"> <option ng-repeat="option in data" val ...