Simplest code for array intersection in javascript
What’s the simplest, library-free code for implementing array intersections in javascript? I want to write
intersection([1,2,3], [2,3,4,5])
and get
[2, 3]
Solutions/Answers:
Solution 1:
Use a combination of Array.prototype.filter
and Array.prototype.indexOf
:
array1.filter(value => -1 !== array2.indexOf(value))
Or as vrugtehagel suggested in the comments, you can use the more recent Array.prototype.includes
for even simpler code:
array1.filter(value => array2.includes(value))
For older browsers:
array1.filter(function(n) {
return array2.indexOf(n) !== -1;
});
Solution 2:
Destructive seems simplest, especially if we can assume the input is sorted:
/* destructively finds the intersection of
* two arrays in a simple fashion.
*
* PARAMS
* a - first array, must already be sorted
* b - second array, must already be sorted
*
* NOTES
* State of input arrays is undefined when
* the function returns. They should be
* (prolly) be dumped.
*
* Should have O(n) operations, where n is
* n = MIN(a.length, b.length)
*/
function intersection_destructive(a, b)
{
var result = [];
while( a.length > 0 && b.length > 0 )
{
if (a[0] < b[0] ){ a.shift(); }
else if (a[0] > b[0] ){ b.shift(); }
else /* they're equal */
{
result.push(a.shift());
b.shift();
}
}
return result;
}
Non-destructive has to be a hair more complicated, since we’ve got to track indices:
/* finds the intersection of
* two arrays in a simple fashion.
*
* PARAMS
* a - first array, must already be sorted
* b - second array, must already be sorted
*
* NOTES
*
* Should have O(n) operations, where n is
* n = MIN(a.length(), b.length())
*/
function intersect_safe(a, b)
{
var ai=0, bi=0;
var result = [];
while( ai < a.length && bi < b.length )
{
if (a[ai] < b[bi] ){ ai++; }
else if (a[ai] > b[bi] ){ bi++; }
else /* they're equal */
{
result.push(a[ai]);
ai++;
bi++;
}
}
return result;
}
Solution 3:
If your environment supports ECMAScript 6 Set, one simple and supposedly efficient (see specification link) way:
function intersect(a, b) {
var setA = new Set(a);
var setB = new Set(b);
var intersection = new Set([...setA].filter(x => setB.has(x)));
return Array.from(intersection);
}
Shorter, but less readable (also without creating the additional intersection Set
):
function intersect(a, b) {
return [...new Set(a)].filter(x => new Set(b).has(x));
}
Avoiding a new Set
from b
every time:
function intersect(a, b) {
var setB = new Set(b);
return [...new Set(a)].filter(x => setB.has(x));
}
Note that when using sets you will only get distinct values, thus new Set[1,2,3,3].size
evaluates to 3
.
Solution 4:
Using Underscore.js or lodash.js
_.intersection( [0,345,324] , [1,0,324] ) // gives [0,324]
Solution 5:
My contribution in ES6 terms. In general it finds the intersection of an array with indefinite number of arrays provided as arguments.
Array.prototype.intersect = function(...a) {
return [this,...a].reduce((p,c) => p.filter(e => c.includes(e)));
}
var arrs = [[0,2,4,6,8],[4,5,6,7],[4,6]],
arr = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9];
document.write("<pre>" + JSON.stringify(arr.intersect(...arrs)) + "</pre>");
Solution 6:
How about just using associative arrays?
function intersect(a, b) {
var d1 = {};
var d2 = {};
var results = [];
for (var i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
d1[a[i]] = true;
}
for (var j = 0; j < b.length; j++) {
d2[b[j]] = true;
}
for (var k in d1) {
if (d2[k])
results.push(k);
}
return results;
}
edit:
// new version
function intersect(a, b) {
var d = {};
var results = [];
for (var i = 0; i < b.length; i++) {
d[b[i]] = true;
}
for (var j = 0; j < a.length; j++) {
if (d[a[j]])
results.push(a[j]);
}
return results;
}