How to skip over an element in .map()?
How can I skip an array element in .map?
My code:
var sources = images.map(function (img) {
if(img.src.split('.').pop() === "json"){ // if extension is .json
return null; // skip
}
else{
return img.src;
}
});
This will return:
["img.png", null, "img.png"]
Just .filter() it first:
var sources = images.filter(function(img) {
if (img.src.split('.').pop() === "json") {
return false; // skip
}
return true;
}).map(function(img) { return img.src; });
If you don't want to do that, which is not unreasonable since it has some cost, you can use the more general .reduce(). You can generally express .map() in terms of .reduce:
someArray.map(function(element) {
return transform(element);
});
can be written as
someArray.reduce(function(result, element) {
result.push(transform(element));
return result;
}, []);
So if you need to skip elements, you can do that easily with .reduce():
var sources = images.reduce(function(result, img) {
if (img.src.split('.').pop() !== "json") {
result.push(img.src);
}
return result;
}, []);
In that version, the code in the .filter() from the first sample is part of the .reduce() callback. The image source is only pushed onto the result array in the case where the filter operation would have kept it.
update — This question gets a lot of attention, and I'd like to add the following clarifying remark. The purpose of .map(), as a concept, is to do exactly what "map" means: transform a list of values into another list of values according to certain rules. Just as a paper map of some country would seem weird if a couple of cities were completely missing, a mapping from one list to another only really makes sense when there's a 1 to 1 set of result values.
I'm not saying that it doesn't make sense to create a new list from an old list with some values excluded. I'm just trying to make clear that .map() has a single simple intention, which is to create a new array of the same length as an old array, only with values formed by a transformation of the old values.
Since 2019, Array.prototype.flatMap is a good option.
images.flatMap(({src}) => src.endsWith('.json') ? [] : src);
From MDN:
flatMapcan be used as a way to add and remove items (modify the number of items) during a map. In other words, it allows you to map many items to many items (by handling each input item separately), rather than always one-to-one. In this sense, it works like the opposite of filter. Simply return a 1-element array to keep the item, a multiple-element array to add items, or a 0-element array to remove the item.
I think the most simple way to skip some elements from an array is by using the filter() method.
By using this method (ES5) and the ES6 syntax you can write your code in one line, and this will return what you want:
let images = [{src: 'img.png'}, {src: 'j1.json'}, {src: 'img.png'}, {src: 'j2.json'}];
let sources = images.filter(img => img.src.slice(-4) != 'json').map(img => img.src);
console.log(sources);TLDR: You can first filter your array and then perform your map but this would require two passes on the array (filter returns an array to map). Since this array is small, it is a very small performance cost. You can also do a simple reduce. However if you want to re-imagine how this can be done with a single pass over the array (or any datatype), you can use an idea called "transducers" made popular by Rich Hickey.
Answer:
We should not require increasing dot chaining and operating on the array [].map(fn1).filter(f2)... since this approach creates intermediate arrays in memory on every reducing function.
The best approach operates on the actual reducing function so there is only one pass of data and no extra arrays.
The reducing function is the function passed into reduce and takes an accumulator and input from the source and returns something that looks like the accumulator
// 1. create a concat reducing function that can be passed into `reduce`
const concat = (acc, input) => acc.concat([input])
// note that [1,2,3].reduce(concat, []) would return [1,2,3]
// transforming your reducing function by mapping
// 2. create a generic mapping function that can take a reducing function and return another reducing function
const mapping = (changeInput) => (reducing) => (acc, input) => reducing(acc, changeInput(input))
// 3. create your map function that operates on an input
const getSrc = (x) => x.src
const mappingSrc = mapping(getSrc)
// 4. now we can use our `mapSrc` function to transform our original function `concat` to get another reducing function
const inputSources = [{src:'one.html'}, {src:'two.txt'}, {src:'three.json'}]
inputSources.reduce(mappingSrc(concat), [])
// -> ['one.html', 'two.txt', 'three.json']
// remember this is really essentially just
// inputSources.reduce((acc, x) => acc.concat([x.src]), [])
// transforming your reducing function by filtering
// 5. create a generic filtering function that can take a reducing function and return another reducing function
const filtering = (predicate) => (reducing) => (acc, input) => (predicate(input) ? reducing(acc, input): acc)
// 6. create your filter function that operate on an input
const filterJsonAndLoad = (img) => {
console.log(img)
if(img.src.split('.').pop() === 'json') {
// game.loadSprite(...);
return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
const filteringJson = filtering(filterJsonAndLoad)
// 7. notice the type of input and output of these functions
// concat is a reducing function,
// mapSrc transforms and returns a reducing function
// filterJsonAndLoad transforms and returns a reducing function
// these functions that transform reducing functions are "transducers", termed by Rich Hickey
// source: http://clojure.com/blog/2012/05/15/anatomy-of-reducer.html
// we can pass this all into reduce! and without any intermediate arrays
const sources = inputSources.reduce(filteringJson(mappingSrc(concat)), []);
// [ 'one.html', 'two.txt' ]
// ==================================
// 8. BONUS: compose all the functions
// You can decide to create a composing function which takes an infinite number of transducers to
// operate on your reducing function to compose a computed accumulator without ever creating that
// intermediate array
const composeAll = (...args) => (x) => {
const fns = args
var i = fns.length
while (i--) {
x = fns[i].call(this, x);
}
return x
}
const doABunchOfStuff = composeAll(
filtering((x) => x.src.split('.').pop() !== 'json'),
mapping((x) => x.src),
mapping((x) => x.toUpperCase()),
mapping((x) => x + '!!!')
)
const sources2 = inputSources.reduce(doABunchOfStuff(concat), [])
// ['ONE.HTML!!!', 'TWO.TXT!!!']
Resources: rich hickey transducers post
Here's a fun solution:
/**
* Filter-map. Like map, but skips undefined values.
*
* @param callback
*/
function fmap(callback) {
return this.reduce((accum, ...args) => {
let x = callback(...args);
if(x !== undefined) {
accum.push(x);
}
return accum;
}, []);
}
Use with the bind operator:
[1,2,-1,3]::fmap(x => x > 0 ? x * 2 : undefined); // [2,4,6]