How to determine if Javascript array contains an object with an attribute that equals a given value?

No need to reinvent the wheel loop, at least not explicitly (using arrow functions, modern browsers only):

if (vendors.filter(e => e.Name === 'Magenic').length > 0) {
  /* vendors contains the element we're looking for */
}

or, better yet, as it allows the browser to stop as soon as one element is found that matches, so it's going to be faster:

if (vendors.some(e => e.Name === 'Magenic')) {
  /* vendors contains the element we're looking for */
}

EDIT: If you need compatibility with lousy browsers then your best bet is:

if (vendors.filter(function(e) { return e.Name === 'Magenic'; }).length > 0) {
  /* vendors contains the element we're looking for */
}

2018 edit: This answer is from 2011, before browsers had widely supported array filtering methods and arrow functions. Have a look at CAFxX's answer.

There is no "magic" way to check for something in an array without a loop. Even if you use some function, the function itself will use a loop. What you can do is break out of the loop as soon as you find what you're looking for to minimize computational time.

var found = false;
for(var i = 0; i < vendors.length; i++) {
    if (vendors[i].Name == 'Magenic') {
        found = true;
        break;
    }
}

No loop necessary. Three methods that come to mind:

Array.prototype.some()

This is the most exact answer for your question, i.e. "check if something exists", implying a bool result. This will be true if there are any 'Magenic' objects, false otherwise:

let hasMagenicVendor = vendors.some( vendor => vendor['Name'] === 'Magenic' )

Array.prototype.filter()

This will return an array of all 'Magenic' objects, even if there is only one (will return a one-element array):

let magenicVendors = vendors.filter( vendor => vendor['Name'] === 'Magenic' )

If you try to coerce this to a boolean, it will not work, as an empty array (no 'Magenic' objects) is still truthy. So just use magenicVendors.length in your conditional.

Array.prototype.find()

This will return the first 'Magenic' object (or undefined if there aren't any):

let magenicVendor = vendors.find( vendor => vendor['Name'] === 'Magenic' );

This coerces to a boolean okay (any object is truthy, undefined is falsy).

Note: I'm using vendor["Name"] instead of vendor.Name because of the weird casing of the property names.

Note 2: No reason to use loose equality (==) instead of strict equality (===) when checking the name.

The accepted answer still works but now we have an ECMAScript 6 native methods [Array.find][1] and [Array.some][2] to achieve the same effect.

Array.some

Use some If you only want to determine if an element exists i.e. you need a true/false determination.

Quoting MDN:

The some() method tests whether at least one element in the array passes the test implemented by the provided function. It returns true if, in the array, it finds an element for which the provided function returns true; otherwise it returns false. It doesn't modify the array.

Array.find

Use find if you want to get the matched object from array else returns undefined.

Quoting MDN:

The find() method returns the value of the first element in the provided array that satisfies the provided testing function. If no values satisfy the testing function, undefined is returned.

var arr = [];
var item1 = {
    id: 21,
    label: 'Banana',
};
var item2 = {
    id: 22,
    label: 'Apple',
};
arr.push(item1, item2);

/* note : data is the actual object that matched search criteria 
  or undefined if nothing matched */

var data = arr.find(function(ele) {
    return ele.id === 21;
});

if (data) {
    console.log('found');
    console.log(data); // This is entire object i.e. `item` not boolean
}


/* note : doesExist is a boolean thats true or false depending on of whether the data was found or not */
var doesExist = arr.some(function(ele) {
    return ele.id === 21;
});

See my jsfiddle link There is a polyfill for IE provided by mozilla

Here's the way I'd do it

const found = vendors.some(item => item.Name === 'Magenic');

array.some() method checks if there is at least one value in an array that matches criteria and returns a boolean. From here on you can go with:

if (found) {
// do something
} else {
// do something else
}