How to remove all duplicates from an array of objects?

How about with some es6 magic?

obj.arr = obj.arr.filter((value, index, self) =>
  index === self.findIndex((t) => (
    t.place === value.place && t.name === value.name
  ))
)

Reference URL

A more generic solution would be:

const uniqueArray = obj.arr.filter((value, index) => {
  const _value = JSON.stringify(value);
  return index === obj.arr.findIndex(obj => {
    return JSON.stringify(obj) === _value;
  });
});

Using the above property strategy instead of JSON.stringify:

const isPropValuesEqual = (subject, target, propNames) =>
  propNames.every(propName => subject[propName] === target[propName]);

const getUniqueItemsByProperties = (items, propNames) => 
  items.filter((item, index, array) =>
    index === array.findIndex(foundItem => isPropValuesEqual(foundItem, item, propNames))
  );

You can add a wrapper if you want the propNames property to be either an array or a value:

const getUniqueItemsByProperties = (items, propNames) => {
  const propNamesArray = Array.from(propNames);

  return items.filter((item, index, array) =>
    index === array.findIndex(foundItem => isPropValuesEqual(foundItem, item, propNamesArray))
  );
};

allowing both getUniqueItemsByProperties('a') and getUniqueItemsByProperties(['a']);

Stackblitz Example

Explanation

• Start by understanding the two methods used:
  • filter, findIndex
• Next take your idea of what makes your two objects equal and keep that in mind.
• We can detect something as a duplicate, if it satisfies the criterion that we have just thought of, but it's position is not at the first instance of an object with the criterion.
• Therefore we can use the above criterion to determine if something is a duplicate.

One liners with filter ( Preserves order )

Find unique id's in an array.

arr.filter((v,i,a)=>a.findIndex(t=>(t.id===v.id))===i)

If the order is not important, map solutions will be faster: Solution with map

Unique by multiple properties ( place and name )

arr.filter((v,i,a)=>a.findIndex(t=>(t.place === v.place && t.name===v.name))===i)

Unique by all properties (This will be slow for large arrays)

arr.filter((v,i,a)=>a.findIndex(t=>(JSON.stringify(t) === JSON.stringify(v)))===i)

Keep the last occurrence.

arr.slice().reverse().filter((v,i,a)=>a.findIndex(t=>(t.id === v.id))===i).reverse()

A primitive method would be:

const obj = {};

for (let i = 0, len = things.thing.length; i < len; i++) {
  obj[things.thing[i]['place']] = things.thing[i];
}

things.thing = new Array();

 for (const key in obj) { 
   things.thing.push(obj[key]);
}

Using ES6+ in a single line you can get a unique list of objects by key:

const unique = [...new Map(arr.map((item, key) => [item[key], item])).values()]

It can be put into a function:

function getUniqueListBy(arr, key) {
    return [...new Map(arr.map(item => [item[key], item])).values()]
}

Here is a working example:

const arr = [
    {place: "here",  name: "x", other: "other stuff1" },
    {place: "there", name: "x", other: "other stuff2" },
    {place: "here",  name: "y", other: "other stuff4" },
    {place: "here",  name: "z", other: "other stuff5" }
]

function getUniqueListBy(arr, key) {
    return [...new Map(arr.map(item => [item[key], item])).values()]
}

const arr1 = getUniqueListBy(arr, 'place')

console.log("Unique by place")
console.log(JSON.stringify(arr1))

console.log("\nUnique by name")
const arr2 = getUniqueListBy(arr, 'name')

console.log(JSON.stringify(arr2))

How does it work

First the array is remapped in a way that it can be used as an input for a Map.

arr.map(item => [item[key], item]);

which means each item of the array will be transformed in another array with 2 elements; the selected key as first element and the entire initial item as second element, this is called an entry (ex. array entries, map entries). And here is the official doc with an example showing how to add array entries in Map constructor.

Example when key is place:

[["here", {place: "here",  name: "x", other: "other stuff1" }], ...]

Secondly, we pass this modified array to the Map constructor and here is the magic happening. Map will eliminate the duplicate keys values, keeping only last inserted value of the same key. Note: Map keeps the order of insertion. (check difference between Map and object)

new Map(entry array just mapped above)

Third we use the map values to retrieve the original items, but this time without duplicates.

new Map(mappedArr).values()

And last one is to add those values into a fresh new array so that it can look as the initial structure and return that:

return [...new Map(mappedArr).values()]