Remove duplicates form an array

Question

I have an array of objects that looks like this:

var array = [
    {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
    {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
    {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
    {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
    ...
];

As you can see, some names are repeated. I want to get a new array with names only, but if some name repeats I don't want to add it again. I want this array:

var newArray = ["Name1", "Name2"];

I'm trying to do this with map:

var newArray = array.map((a) => {
    return a.name;
});

But the problem is that this returns:

newArray = ["Name1", "Name1", "Name2", "Name2"];

How can I set some condition inside map, so it won't return an element that already exists? I want to do this with map or some other ECMAScript 5 or ECMAScript 6 feature.

Answer 1

With ES6, you could use Set for unique values, after mapping only the names of the objects.

This proposal uses a spread syntax ... for collecting the items in a new array.

const array = [{ id: 123, value: "value1", name:"Name1" }, { id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1" }, { id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2" }, { id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2" }],
      names = [...new Set(array.map(a => a.name))];

console.log(names);

Answer 2

If you are looking for a JavaScript solution that is not ES 6 (no Set) you can use the Array's reduce method:

var array=[
  {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
  {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
  {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
  {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
];
var names = array.reduce(function (a, b) {
  if (a.indexOf(b.name) == -1) {
    a.push(b.name)
  }
  return a;
}, []);

console.log(names);

Answer 3

Personally I don't see why everyone is getting all fancy with ES 6. If it were my code I'd prefer to support as many browsers as possible.

var array=[
{id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
{id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
{id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
{id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
];

   // Create array of unique names
var a = (function(a){
  for (var i = array.length; i--;)
    if (a.indexOf(array[i].name) < 0) a.push(array[i].name);
  return a;
})([]);

console.log(a);

Answer 4

You could also simply combine map with filter

var array = [
  {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
  {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
  {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
  {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
];

var unique = array
  .map( item => item.name )
  .filter( ( item, idx, arr ) => arr.indexOf( item ) == idx ) 

console.log(unique)

Answer 5

You can use Object.keys() to get the array of a given object's own enumerable property names from the object result of iterating array variable with Array.prototype.reduce() where the keys are the destructed names

Code:

const array = [{id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"}, {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"}, {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"}, {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}],
      names = Object.keys(
        array.reduce((a, { name }) => (a[name] = 1, a), {})
      )

console.log(names)

Answer 6

Many good answers here. I just would like to contribute with some diversity with hopes to give you another perspective.

Arrays are of object type in JavaScript, so they can be used as a hash at the same time. By using this functionality we can greatly simplify the job to be done in a single reduce operation with O(n) time complexity.

If you are not happy with your array holding some properties other than the array keys you might consider keeping a separate hash object as well.

var array = [{id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
             {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
             {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
             {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
            ],
result = array.reduce((p,c) => p[c.name] ? p : (p[c.name] = true, p.push(c.name), p), []);
console.log(result);

Answer 7

I agree that if you only need the name values, a Set is the way to go.

However, if you want to get an array of unique objects based on the name property, I'd suggest to use a Map. A quick way to create a Map, is via an array of [key, value] arrays:

const array = [{ id: 123, value: "value1", name:"Name1" }, { id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1" }, { id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2" }, { id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2" }],
      unique = new Map(array.map(obj => [obj.name, obj]));

// To get the unique objects
const uniques = Array.from(unique.values());

// Get the names like you already did:
console.log("Names:", uniques.map(obj => obj.name));

// If you ever need the complete array of unique objects, you got a ref:
console.log(JSON.stringify(uniques));

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An added benefit of Map is that you get both the filter functionality that cuts out the non-uniques, without loosing the connection with the source objects. Of course, it's only needed if you need to reference the unique set of objects multiple times.

Answer 8

With ES6 this should do the job.

var array=[
    {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
    {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
    {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
    {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
];

var set = new Set();

array.forEach((a)=>{
    set.add(a.name);
}); 

console.log(Array.from(set));

Answer 9

If you're limited to ES5, I would use Lodash's _.uniq

var newArray = _.uniq(array.map(function(a) {
  return a.name;
}));

Answer 10

Using UnderscoreJS,

array = [{id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"}, {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"}, {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"}, {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}];
get_names =  _.pluck(_.uniq(array, 'name'), 'name')
console.log(get_names)

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/underscore.js/1.8.3/underscore-min.js"></script>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

`

Answer 11

That's how I did it, using a separate empty array.

var array = [
   {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
   {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
   {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
   {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}     
];

var array2 = []  
  
for (i=0; i<array.length;i++){      
   if (array2.indexOf(array[i].name) == -1){    
     array2.push(array[i].name);
    }
}   

console.log(array2) 

Answer 12

Try this:

nArr = [];
array.forEach((a) => {
    if (nArr.indexOf(a.name) < 0) { 
        nArr.push(a.name); 
    }
}); 

Answer 13

In ES5, use an object as a dictionary for O(n) performance.

This will only work if all the keys are Strings.

var array = [
    {id: 123, value: "value1", name: "Name1"},
    {id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1"},
    {id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2"},
    {id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2"}
];

var allNames = array.map(item => item.name);

var map = {};
allNames.forEach(name => {
  map[name] = true;
});
var uniqueNames = Object.keys(map);

console.log(uniqueNames);

You could do the same thing in one expression if you like:

var uniqueNames = Object.keys(allNames.reduce((m, n) => (m[n] = true, m), {}));

but I find the imperative form easier to read.

Answer 14

Use array#forEach() and array#indexOf() methods like this if you want maximum compatibility yet, concise syntax:

const array = [{ id: 123, value: "value1", name:"Name1" }, { id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1" }, { id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2" }, { id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2" }]

// initialize an empty array named names
let names = [];

// iterate through every element of `array` & check if it's 'name' key's value already in names array if not ADD it 
array.forEach(function(element) { if (names.indexOf(element.name) === -1) names.push(element.name) });
// or use tilde like this:
//array.forEach(function(element) { if (~names.indexOf(element.name)) names.push(element.name) });

console.log(names);

However, if compatibility is not an issue use ECMAScript 6's Set object, array#map and Array.from() methods like this:

const array = [{ id: 123, value: "value1", name:"Name1" }, { id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1" }, { id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2" }, { id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2" }];

// iterate through every element from array using map and store it in Set(a Set won't have duplicates) then convert the Set back to Array(using Array.from)
let names = Array.from(new Set(array.map(element => element.name)));

console.log(names);

Answer 15

I see there is a lot of spread-Set-like solutions, that aren't optimal.

This solution is simpler, more efficient and doesn't needs to recreate array:

const array = [{ id: 123, value: "value1", name:"Name1" }, { id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1" }, { id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2" }, { id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2" }]

const res = array.map(e => e.name)
                 .filter((e, i, a) => a.indexOf(e) == i)

console.log(res)

Answer 16

For those seeking a 1 liner

const names = array.reduce((acc, {name}) => acc.includes(name) ? acc : [name, ...acc], []);

or without using methods on the array's prototype

const { reduce, includes } = Array;
const names = reduce(array, (acc, {name}) => includes(acc, name) ? acc : [name, ...acc], []);

could be usefull for writing some pure functions for dealing with this

const get_uniq_values = (key, arr) => reduce(arr, (a, o) => includes(a, o[key]) ? a : [o[key], ...a], []);

Answer 17

var __array=[{id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},{id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},{id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},{id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}];

function __checkArray(__obj){
    var flag = true;
    for(let i=0; i < __array.length; i++){
        if(__obj.id == __array.id){
            flag = false;
            break;
        }
    }

    return flag;
}

var __valToPush = {id: 127, value: "value5", name: "Name3"};
if(__checkArray(__valToPush)){
    __array.push(__valToPush)
}