Tips for retrieving the longest word from an array in JavaScript/JSON

Question

Tips for retrieving the longest word from an array in JavaScript/JSON

I'm creating a custom function that will identify and extract the longest word from a given string. If there are multiple words of the same length, the function will return the first one it encounters. The function also disregards numbers and punctuation marks during this process. Here's how the function works:

function findLongestWord(inputString){
  var wordLengths = [];
  var result = "";

window.onload = function(){
  inputString = inputString.replace(/[^a-z " "]/gi, ''); // Remove non-alphabetic characters
  inputString = inputString.split(" ");

  for (var i = 0; i < inputString.length; i++){
    wordLengths[i] = parseInt(inputString[i].length);
  }
  wordLengths = wordLengths.sort();
  
  for (var j = 0; j < inputString.length; j++){
    if(parseInt(inputString[j].length) == Math.max(...wordLengths)){
      result = inputString[j];
      break;
    }
  }
}
return result;
}

The issue I've encountered is that the function currently returns the data type ("string") instead of the actual value.

javascript arrays json string

Answer 1

Answer №1

The issue lies in your utilization of window.onload within a function. By doing this, you are only setting the handler on the window, which will execute when an onload event occurs. The function then immediately returns finalReuslts, which remains an empty string. Presumably, you intend for all of this code to run when the function is called. It's unclear why you are including this; removing it resolves the issue:

function extractLongest(testString){
  var lenArr = [];
  var finalResult = "";

  testString = testString.replace(/[^a-z " "]/gi, '');
  testString = testString.split(" ");
  
  for (var counter = 0; counter < testString.length; counter++){
    lenArr[counter] = parseInt(testString[counter].length);
  }
  lenArr = lenArr.sort();
  for (var counterTwo = 0; counterTwo < testString.length; counterTwo++){
    if(parseInt(testString[counterTwo].length) == Math.max(...lenArr)){
      finalResult = testString[counterTwo];
      break;
    }
  }
 
return finalResult;
}

console.log(extractLongest("hello my name is stephen"))

If helpful, there is a more straightforward approach using reduce():

function extractLongest(testString){
  testString = testString.replace(/[^a-z " "]/gi, '');
  testString = testString.split(" ");
  return testString.reduce(function(a, b) {
    return a.length > b.length ? a : b
});
}
console.log(extractLongest("hello my designation is stephen"))

Answer 2

The issue lies in your utilization of window.onload within a function. By doing this, you are only setting the handler on the window, which will execute when an onload event occurs. The function then immediately returns finalReuslts, which remains an empty string. Presumably, you intend for all of this code to run when the function is called. It's unclear why you are including this; removing it resolves the issue:

function extractLongest(testString){
  var lenArr = [];
  var finalResult = "";

  testString = testString.replace(/[^a-z " "]/gi, '');
  testString = testString.split(" ");
  
  for (var counter = 0; counter < testString.length; counter++){
    lenArr[counter] = parseInt(testString[counter].length);
  }
  lenArr = lenArr.sort();
  for (var counterTwo = 0; counterTwo < testString.length; counterTwo++){
    if(parseInt(testString[counterTwo].length) == Math.max(...lenArr)){
      finalResult = testString[counterTwo];
      break;
    }
  }
 
return finalResult;
}

console.log(extractLongest("hello my name is stephen"))

If helpful, there is a more straightforward approach using reduce():

function extractLongest(testString){
  testString = testString.replace(/[^a-z " "]/gi, '');
  testString = testString.split(" ");
  return testString.reduce(function(a, b) {
    return a.length > b.length ? a : b
});
}
console.log(extractLongest("hello my designation is stephen"))

Tips for retrieving the longest word from an array in JavaScript/JSON

Answer №1

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