Various designations for varying entities of identical category

Question

Various designations for varying entities of identical category

I want to update an array of objects with a type 'person' to have unique identifiers like 'person0', 'person1', and so on. Currently, the setup looks like this:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

function person(id, age) {
    //simplified version
    this.id = id;
    this.age = age;
}

function createPerson() {
    population[populationCount] = new person();
    population[populationCount].id = populationCount;
    population[populationCount].age = 0;

    populationCount++;
}

for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    createPerson();
}

At the moment, the array holds instances as "person, person, person, ..." but my goal is to have it as "person0, person1, person2, ...".

I see the value in doing this because if, for example, population[100] were to die, their place would be taken by population[101], assuming I just use population.splice[100] when they pass away. With that change, population[100] would then have the ID 101, and having distinct 'names' in the array could make locating individuals easier using indexOf.

javascript arrays object

Answer 1

Answer №1

You have mistaken a type for an identifier.

Every instance that you create represents a person, and that fact remains unchanged. Object types are fixed - person[6] will always be an instance of a person.

The best way to distinguish one instance of person from another is either through the id property or an index.

Your code structure could use some improvement. The person function should ideally be a constructor function with two arguments, but in your implementation, you are setting these as properties instead of passing them during construction. Additionally, the createPerson function should solely focus on creating a person, not adding it to an array.

A better approach to organizing your code would be:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

// Following conventions, constructor functions should be Pascal-Case
function Person(id, age){
    // A simplified version
    this.id = id;
    this.age = age;
}

function createPerson(){
  // Refactor this function to just return a new Person instance,
  // avoiding any coupling with how it will be used.
  
  // Also, ensure to pass the necessary arguments during creation
  return new Person(++populationCount, 0);
}

for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++){
  // Add the created Person to the array after deciding on its usage
  population[populationCount] = createPerson();
}

console.log("The population includes: ", population);
console.log("The last person in the population is: ", population[population.length - 1]);
console.log("The third person in the population belongs to: ", population[2].constructor.name);
console.log("The third person in the population has an id of: " + population[2].id);

If you are worried about mismatching indexes with ids, you can implement a "reset" functionality like so:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

function Person(id, age){
  this.id = id;
  this.age = age;
}

function createPerson(){
  return new Person(++populationCount, 0);
}

for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++){
  population[populationCount] = createPerson();
}

// Remove the first 5 people:
population.splice(0, 5);
console.log("First 5 individuals have been removed. Array now contains: " + population.length + " people.");
console.log("The id of the first person is: " + population[0].id);


// **************************************************************************
// Generate a new array with old members but updated ids
var newPopulation = [];
function rePopulate(array){
  newPopulation = array.map(function(element){
    element.id = newPopulation.length + 1;
    return element;
  });
}
rePopulate(population);

console.log("The array has been recreated with adjusted ids");
console.log("The id of the first person is now: " + newPopulation[0].id);

If you wish to locate a specific Person in the array based on their id without knowing the index, you can use a simple "find" function:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

function Person(id, age){
  this.id = id;
  this.age = age;
}

function createPerson(){
  return new Person(++populationCount, 0);
}

for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++){
  population[populationCount] = createPerson();
}

// Eliminate the first 5 people:
population.splice(0, 5);
console.log("First 5 individuals have been eliminated. Array now contains: " + population.length + " people (with id's 6 - 10).");
console.log("The id of the first person is: " + population[0].id);


// ***********************************************************************
// Use a simple "find" operation to locate a person based on their id 
// without needing to know the index at all
function findPerson(id) {  
  return population.find(function(person){
     return person.id === id;
  });
}

var desiredId = 7; // Specific id to search for
console.log("The individual with id 7 is: ",  findPerson(desiredId));

Answer 2

You have mistaken a type for an identifier.

Every instance that you create represents a person, and that fact remains unchanged. Object types are fixed - person[6] will always be an instance of a person.

The best way to distinguish one instance of person from another is either through the id property or an index.

Your code structure could use some improvement. The person function should ideally be a constructor function with two arguments, but in your implementation, you are setting these as properties instead of passing them during construction. Additionally, the createPerson function should solely focus on creating a person, not adding it to an array.

A better approach to organizing your code would be:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

// Following conventions, constructor functions should be Pascal-Case
function Person(id, age){
    // A simplified version
    this.id = id;
    this.age = age;
}

function createPerson(){
  // Refactor this function to just return a new Person instance,
  // avoiding any coupling with how it will be used.
  
  // Also, ensure to pass the necessary arguments during creation
  return new Person(++populationCount, 0);
}

for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++){
  // Add the created Person to the array after deciding on its usage
  population[populationCount] = createPerson();
}

console.log("The population includes: ", population);
console.log("The last person in the population is: ", population[population.length - 1]);
console.log("The third person in the population belongs to: ", population[2].constructor.name);
console.log("The third person in the population has an id of: " + population[2].id);

If you are worried about mismatching indexes with ids, you can implement a "reset" functionality like so:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

function Person(id, age){
  this.id = id;
  this.age = age;
}

function createPerson(){
  return new Person(++populationCount, 0);
}

for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++){
  population[populationCount] = createPerson();
}

// Remove the first 5 people:
population.splice(0, 5);
console.log("First 5 individuals have been removed. Array now contains: " + population.length + " people.");
console.log("The id of the first person is: " + population[0].id);


// **************************************************************************
// Generate a new array with old members but updated ids
var newPopulation = [];
function rePopulate(array){
  newPopulation = array.map(function(element){
    element.id = newPopulation.length + 1;
    return element;
  });
}
rePopulate(population);

console.log("The array has been recreated with adjusted ids");
console.log("The id of the first person is now: " + newPopulation[0].id);

If you wish to locate a specific Person in the array based on their id without knowing the index, you can use a simple "find" function:

var population = [];
var populationCount = 0;

function Person(id, age){
  this.id = id;
  this.age = age;
}

function createPerson(){
  return new Person(++populationCount, 0);
}

for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++){
  population[populationCount] = createPerson();
}

// Eliminate the first 5 people:
population.splice(0, 5);
console.log("First 5 individuals have been eliminated. Array now contains: " + population.length + " people (with id's 6 - 10).");
console.log("The id of the first person is: " + population[0].id);


// ***********************************************************************
// Use a simple "find" operation to locate a person based on their id 
// without needing to know the index at all
function findPerson(id) {  
  return population.find(function(person){
     return person.id === id;
  });
}

var desiredId = 7; // Specific id to search for
console.log("The individual with id 7 is: ",  findPerson(desiredId));

Answer 3

Answer №2

When you express your desire to include person0, person1, person2, and so on, you are essentially asking for an infinite variety of unique types, not just individual objects. Unfortunately, creating these types dynamically is not something I am familiar with. As suggested in the comments, using key-value pairs might be a viable solution. It seems like you are already giving each person a distinct identifier.

One approach could be to nest these objects within an overarching object, for example:

var persons = [
    { 
        person0:
        {
            id: 0,
            age: 69,
            name: 'john doe'
        },
        person1:
        {
        ...
        },
        ...
    }   
]

Answer 4

When you express your desire to include person0, person1, person2, and so on, you are essentially asking for an infinite variety of unique types, not just individual objects. Unfortunately, creating these types dynamically is not something I am familiar with. As suggested in the comments, using key-value pairs might be a viable solution. It seems like you are already giving each person a distinct identifier.

One approach could be to nest these objects within an overarching object, for example:

var persons = [
    { 
        person0:
        {
            id: 0,
            age: 69,
            name: 'john doe'
        },
        person1:
        {
        ...
        },
        ...
    }   
]

Various designations for varying entities of identical category

Answer №1

Answer №2

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