The array method forEach is wonderfully useful, but I see it used in instances where other array methods are a better fit. For those who don’t know what forEach does, it effectively replaces a for-loop iterating over an array:
const names = ['karishna', 'sean', 'tayo'];
const uppercaseNames = [];for (let i = 0; i < names.length; i++) {
uppercaseNames.push(names[i].toUppercase());
}// is the same as
names.forEach(name => uppercaseNames.push(name.toUppercase()));
It’s a great method as it allows us to bypass all the boilerplate of making a for-loop: no temporary index variable, no checking against the array length, no clunky arrayName[index] code to access an element. It is very similar to writing a for..of loop, but inline. However forEach is arguably the least awesome of the array methods we have available to us in JavaScript. Let’s refactor some for-loops (or forEach implementations) into better code with these other methods.
filter
When to use it: you need a subset of the original array.
How to use it: pass in a predicate function that will be evaluated against each element of the array. If and only if the predicate returns true is the element is included in the resulting array.
const positives = [];
[-1, -4, 3, 8].forEach((n) => {
if (n > 0) {
positives.push(n);
}
});// with filter
const positives = [-1, -4, 3, 8].filter(n => n > 0);
map
When to use it: you need an array (of the exact same size of the original) whose elements are each derived from their counterparts in the original array.
How to use it: pass in a transformer function that will consume each element in turn and whatever it returns gets pushed to the resulting array.
const capitals = [];
['a', 'b', 'c'].forEach(l => capitals.push(l.toUppercase()));// with map
const capitals = ['a', 'b', 'c'].map(l => l.toUppercase());
slice
When to use it: you need a subset of the original array, delimited by indexes. (This is also a quick way to copy an array: const copy = original.slice(0).)
How to use it: pass a beginning and (optional) ending index number. Negative indexes count backwards from the end of the array. No “out of bound” errors are ever thrown — a too-large index acts as if array.length was passed.
const letters = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];const subset = [];
letters.forEach((el, i) => {
if (i > 0) {
copy.push(el);
}
});// with slice
const subset = letters.slice(1);
reduce
When to use it: you need a single value from an array… usually not one of the elements. This value can be derived from all or part of the array.
How to use it: pass an accumulator function that accepts the accumulation (what gets returned from each iteration) and the element. Also, pass the initial value for the accumulator as the second parameter of reduce.
const sentences = [
'See Jane run.',
'See John play.',
'Write better sentences.'
];let wordCount = 0;
sentences.forEach((s) => {
wordCount += s.split(' ').length;
});// with reduce
const wordCount = sentences.reduce((count, s) => (
count + s.split(' ').length
), 0);
find
When to use it: you need the first element in an array that meets some criterion.
How to use it: pass in a predicate function that will be evaluated against each element in the array until it returns true. The element it returns true for will be returned from the method and the array iteration will stop.
const nums = [-3, -2, 0, 4];let firstPositive;
for (let n of nums) {
if (n > 0) {
firstPositive = n;
break;
}
}// with find
const firstPositive = nums.find(n => n > 0);
every
When to use it: you need to know if every element in the array meets some requirement.
How to use it: pass a predicate function that will be evaluated against each element in the array until it returns false. If the predicate returns false, the iteration stops and the whole method returns false. Otherwise it will return true.
const nums = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, -6, 7];let isAllPositive = true;
for (let n of nums) {
if (n < 0) { // same as !(n >= 0)
isAllPositive = false;
break;
}
}// with every
const isAllPositive = nums.every(n => n >= 0);
some
When to use it: you need to know if an element in the array meets some requirement.
How to use it: pass a predicate function that will be evaluated against each element in the array until it returns true. If the predicate returns true, the iteration stops and the whole method returns true. Otherwise it will return false.
const nums = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, -6, 7];let hasNegative = false;
for (let n of nums) {
if (n < 0) {
hasNegative = true;
break;
}
}// with some
const hasNegative = nums.some(n => n < 0);
includes
When to use it: you need to know if a value is in the array.
How to use it: pass in the value to check. Nice ’n’ simple.
let hasBlue = false;
const colors = ['red', 'yellow', 'blue', 'green'];
for (let color of colors) {
if (color === 'blue') {
hasBlue = true;
break;
}
}// with includes
const hasBlue = colors.includes('blue');
Chaining Array Methods
This is the secret power of using array methods that return arrays — map, filter, slice, and sometimes reduce: they can be chained to implement complex operations via simple steps.
let firstTenUnderTenItems = [];
items.forEach(item => {
if (firstTenUnderTenItems.length < 10) {
if (item.inStock && item.price < 10) {
firstTenUnderTenItems.push(item.name);
}
}
}const firstTenUnderTenItems = items
.filter(item => item.inStock && item.price < 10)
.slice(0, 10)
.map(item => item.name);
Bonus: Object.keys, Object.values, Object.entries
When to use them: you are working with objects but wish you were working with arrays!
How to use them: pass in an object to generate an array of either the object’s keys, values, or key-value pairs (entries).
const stringObj = '';
for (let key in myObj) {
stringObj += `${key}: ${myObj[key]},`;
}// with Object.entries
const stringObj = Object.entries(myObj)
.map(([key, value]) => `${key}: ${value}`)
.join(',')
Conclusion
In my practice, I only reach for forEach if I know I’m going to do a side-effect. In this way, it is more clear than the other methods, in that it practically screams, “side-effect happening here!” If I enacted some secondary code in the midst of a map, it might be lost to the next person to read that code:
// side-effect with map
callbacks
.filter(cb => typeof cb === 'function')
.map(cb => cb()) // <-- side effect!// with forEach
callbacks
.filter(cb => typeof cb === 'function')
.forEach(cb => cb());
Since forEach always returns undefined it will only ever be on the end of a chain of array methods and is easy to spot. (I could have added more array methods after the map in the first example and completely obscured that a side-effect occurred in the midst of the chain.)
For all other array manipulations, even to the point of extracting a single value from the array, I use the array methods shown above. They keep the code simple and readable, and tend to be easy to remove from a long chain of manipulations.
While there are cases for performing a side-effect within some other array method, I prefer those to be the exceptions and not the rule. Thus my mantra: forEach is for side-effects!
