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JavaScript interview code challenges on Collections - concepts

  1. Show the different ways of creating an array
  2. Write a program to iterate over an array and print all the values of it
  3. Write a program to append and prepend, single or multiple values in to an array
  4. Show how insertion and removal of elements can happen in the array for given index
  5. Show the different ways of emptying an array which has values
  6. Check if given input is an array or not
  7. Show how an array in JavaScript can act like a stack and queue
  8. Create an array by removing all the holes of the array
  9. Optimize the given statements having lot of logical checks to use a compact and cleaner logic
  10. Write a program to iterate over a 2 dimensional array and print all the values of it
  11. Write a program to store values in to a set
  12. Write a program to store values in to a map
  13. Write a code to iterate over a set
  14. Write a code to iterate over a map
  15. Show how map is different from object to store key value pairs with coding example
  16. Write a program to polyfill filter functionality of the Array
  17. Write a program to polyfill map functionality of the Array
  18. Write a program to polyfill reduce functionality of the Array

Q1

Show the different ways of creating an array

  • Arrays are the collection of values in javascript. Array is a special type of object in JavaScript
  • Arrays values are indexed from 0 and have special property length which stores the count of elements present in array
// literal form
const arr = [];
// consturctor form
const arr = new Array();
// pre defined number of slots
const arr = new Array(10);
// with values
const arr = [1, true, "string"];
// constructor form with values
const arr = new Array(1, true, "string");
References

Q2

Write a program to iterate over an array and print all the values of it

  • Arrays can be iterated by using its index to fetch the values
  • Arrays also can be iterated with for each style loops
for(let i =0; i < arr.length; i++){
    console.log(arr[i]);
}
for(let index in arr){
    console.log(arr[index]);
}
for(let value of arr){
    console.log(value);
}
arr.forEach(val => console.log(val));

Q3

Write a program to append and prepend, single or multiple values in to an array

  • Values to the array can be appended using push method of array
  • Values to the array can be prepended using unshift method of array
const arr = [2, 3];
arr.push(4);                    // [2, 3, 4]
arr.unshift(1);                 // [1, 2, 3, 4]
const arr = [3, 4];
arr.push(5, 6);                 // [3, 4, 5, 6]
arr.unshift(1, 2);              // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
const otherArr = [4, 5, 6];
arr.push(...otherArr);          // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
arr.unshift(...otherArr);            // [4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Notes

To remove the elements from the end of the array pop operation can be used but one element at a time. To remove the elements from the start of the array shift operation can be used but one element at a time

References

Q4

Show insertion and removal of elements can happen in the array for given index

  • Values of the array can be removed from any position using splice method of array
  • Values of the array can also be inserted to any position using splice method of array
  • 2nd argument is passed as 0 which inserts the elements without replacing
  • The values passed after 2nd argument are considered for insertion
const arr = [1, 2, 2, 3];
const position = 2;
const count = 1;
arr.splice(position, count);        // [2]
console.log(arr);               // [1, 2, 3]
const arr = [1, 2, 4, 5];
const position = 2;
arr.splice(position, 0, 3);
console.log(arr);               // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Notes

'count' indicates the number of elements to be removed from the index 'position'. Multiple values can be inserted or removed using splice

References

Q5

Show the different ways of emptying an array which has values

  • Array can be emptied by giving a new reference of an empty array
  • Setting the length of the array to 0 will automatically makes the array empty
  • pop operation on array can also be used to empty the array where each elements get removed
arr = [];
arr.length = 0;
while(arr.length > 0){
    arr.pop();
}
arr.splice(0, arr.length)
Notes

splice operation used here to empty the array is a trick by passing the length of the array as argument, where all the elements of the array get removed

References

Q6

Check if given input is an array or not

  • Array.isArray is a method which checks if the given argument is an array or not
  • Alternatively the toString method present on Object prototype can be used to check if it is an array
Array.isArray(arr);
Object.prototype.toString.call(arr) === '[object Array]'
Notes

typeof operator cannot be used to check if a value is an array or not because array is an object and typeof arr returns us "object"

References

Q7

Show how an array in JavaScript can act like a stack and queue

  • Stack is a 'Last In First Out' data structure can be achieved using push and pop operations
  • Queue is a 'First In First Out' data structure can be achieved using push and shift operations
// To add the value to the stack
arr.push(value);

// To remove the value from the stack
arr.pop();
// To add the value to the queue
arr.push(value);

// To remove the value from the queue
arr.shift();

Q8

Create an array by removing all the holes of the array

  • Holes are undefined value present inside array
  • Holes do not get iterated in filter which will just fetch all the values except undefined
const uniqueArr = arr.filter(value => true);
Notes

Holes can be formed when an array value by index is deleted. Example: delete arr[index]


Q9

Optimize the given statements having lot of logical checks to use a compact and cleaner logic

// Example1
browser === "chrome" || browser === "firefox" || browser === "IE" || browser === "safari"

// Example2
browser !== "chrome" && browser !== "firefox" && browser !== "IE" && browser !== "safari"
  • Examples can be modified to store the values of comparision in an array and check for the presence of value if it is present inside array
// Example1
// browser === "chrome" || browser === "firefox" || browser === "IE" || browser === "safari"

const browserList = ["chrome", "firefox", "IE", "safari"];
browserList.includes(browser);
// Example2
// browser !== "chrome" && browser !== "firefox" && browser !== "IE" && browser !== "safari"

const browserList = ["chrome", "firefox", "IE", "safari"];
!browserList.includes(browser);
Notes

Generally this use case can be implemented for if conditions


Q10

Write a program to iterate over a 2 dimensional array and print all the values of it

  • Arrays can be iterated by using its index to fetch the values
  • Arrays also can be iterated with for each style loops, with one loop to iterate the rows and inside it for cells
for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
    for (let j = 0; j < arr[i].length; j++) {
        console.log(arr[i][j]);
    }
}
for (let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
    for (let j = 0; j < arr[i].length; j++) {
        console.log(arr[i][j]);
    }
}
for (let rowArr of arr) {
    for (let value of rowArr) {
        console.log(value);
    }
}
arr.forEach(rowArr => rowArr.forEach(val => console.log(val)));

Q11

Write a program to store values in to a set

  • Set lets us store unique values of any type
  • Set can be created empty & then added with values or can be initialized also
const set = new Set();
set.add(1);
set.add(true);
set.add("text");
set.add(1);

set;            // 1, true, "text"
const set = new Set([1, 2, 3]);

set;            // 1, 2, 3
References

Q12

Write a program to store values in to a map

  • Map holds key-value pairs and remembers the original insertion order of the keys
  • Map can be created empty & then added with values or can be initialized also with key-value pairs
const map = new Map();
map.set(1, 1000);
map.set(true, false);
map.set("text", "String");

map;                                                            // [1, 1000] [true, false] ["text", "String"]
const map = new Map([[1, "One"], [2, "two"], [3, "three"]]);
map;                                                            // [1, "One"] [2, "two"] [3, "three"]
Notes

Unlike objects, Map can have any primitive or object as the key

References

Q13

Write a code to iterate over a set

  • set is an iterable object and can be iterated using for..of loop
  • set can also be iterated by simple forEach loop
for(let val of set) console.log(val);
set.forEach(value => console.log(value));

Q14

Write a code to iterate over a map

  • map is an iterable object and can be iterated using for..of loop
  • map can also be iterated by simple forEach loop
for(let val of map) console.log(val[0], val[1]);
for(let key of map.keys()) console.log(key, map.get(key));
map.forEach((value, key) => console.log(key, value));

Q15

Show how map is different from object to store key value pairs with coding example

  • Map does not contain any keys by default unlike objects which has keys from its prototype
  • Map's keys can be any value (including functions, objects, or any primitive) unlike object where keys are only strings
  • The keys in Map are ordered in a simple, straightforward way
  • The number of items in a Map is easily retrieved from its size property
  • Map is an iterable object
map.set(1, 'Mapped to a number');           // primitive number as key
map.set('1', 'Mapped to a string');         // string value as key
map.set({}, 'Mapped to a object');          // object as key
map.set([], 'Mapped to an array');          // array as key
map.set(()=>{}, 'Mapped to a function');    // function as key
Notes

Maps perform better than objects in most of the scenarios involving addition and removal of keys


Q16

Write a program to polyfill filter functionality of the Array

  • filter iterates over the all values of array and passes value, index and array (itself) as the arguments
  • Function returns a new array which filtering the values of the original array
if (!Array.prototype.filter) {
 Array.prototype.filter = function(callback) {
    
    if(typeof callback !== "function")
        throw new Error("Argument passed has to be a function");
 
    let newArray = [];

    for(let index in this) {
      if(callback(this[index], index, this)){
          newArray.push(this[index]);
      }
    }
    return newArray;
  }
}
Notes

The solution is a simple polyfill of filter and not intended to handle all the corner scenarios


Q17

Write a program to polyfill map functionality of the Array

  • map iterates over the all values of array and passes value, index and array (itself) as the arguments
  • Function returns a new array which is same as the length of the original array
if (!Array.prototype.map) {
 Array.prototype.map = function(callback) {
    if(typeof callback !== "function")
        throw new Error("Argument passed has to be a function");
        
    let newArray = [];

    for(let index in this) {
      newArray.push(callback(this[index], index, this));
    }
    return newArray;
  }
}
Notes

The solution is a simple polyfill of map and not intended to handle all the corner scenarios


Q18

Write a program to polyfill reduce functionality of the Array

  • reduce iterates over the all values of array and passes value, index and array (itself) as the arguments
  • reduce accepts an optional initial value which when not provided can be skipped
  • Function returns a single value after all the iteration
if (!Array.prototype.reduce) {
 Array.prototype.reduce = function(callback, init) {
    let startPosition = 0;
    let accumulator = init ?? this[startPosition++];

    for(let index = startPosition; index < this.length; index++) {
      accumulator = callback(accumulator, this[index], index, this);
    }
    return accumulator;
  }
}
Notes

The solution is a simple polyfill of reduce and not intended to handle all the corner scenarios


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