Get loop counter/index using for…of syntax in Java

Question

Caution:

question still applies to for…of loops.> Don't use for…in to iterate over an Array, use it to iterate over the properties of an object. That said, this

---

I understand that the basic for…in syntax in JavaScript looks like this:

for (var obj in myArray) {
    // ...
}

But how do I get the loop counter/index?

I know I could probably do something like:

var i = 0;
for (var obj in myArray) {
    alert(i)
    i++
}

Or even the good old:

for (var i = 0; i < myArray.length; i++) {
    var obj = myArray[i]
    alert(i)
}

But I would rather use the simpler for-in loop. I think they look better and make more sense.

Is there a simpler or more elegant way?

---

In Python it's easy:

for i, obj in enumerate(myArray):
    print i

Answer 1

In ES6, it is good to use for - of loop. You can get index in for of like this

for (let [index, val] of array.entries()) {
        // your code goes here    
}

Note that Array.entries() returns an iterator, which is what allows it to work in the for-of loop; don't confuse this with Object.entries(), which returns an array of key-value pairs.

Answer 2

for…in iterates over property names, not values, and does so in an unspecified order (yes, even after ES6). You shouldn’t use it to iterate over arrays. For them, there’s ES5’s forEach method that passes both the value and the index to the function you give it:

var myArray = [123, 15, 187, 32];

myArray.forEach(function (value, i) {
    console.log('%d: %s', i, value);
});

// Outputs:
// 0: 123
// 1: 15
// 2: 187
// 3: 32

Or ES6’s Array.prototype.entries, which now has support across current browser versions:

for (const [i, value] of myArray.entries()) {
    console.log('%d: %s', i, value);
}

For iterables in general (where you would use a for…of loop rather than a for…in), there’s nothing built-in, however:

function* enumerate(iterable) {
    let i = 0;

    for (const x of iterable) {
        yield [i, x];
        i++;
    }
}

for (const [i, obj] of enumerate(myArray)) {
    console.log(i, obj);
}

demo

If you actually did mean for…in – enumerating properties – you would need an additional counter. Object.keys(obj).forEach could work, but it only includes own properties; for…in includes enumerable properties anywhere on the prototype chain.

Answer 3

Solution for small array collections:

for (var obj in arr) {
    var i = Object.keys(arr).indexOf(obj);
}

arr - ARRAY, obj - KEY of current element, i - COUNTER/INDEX

Notice: Method keys() is not available for IE version <9, you should use Polyfill code. https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/keys

Answer 4

How about this

let numbers = [1,2,3,4,5]
numbers.forEach((number, index) => console.log(`${index}:${number}`))

Where array.forEach this method has an index parameter which is the index of the current element being processed in the array.

Answer 5

Here's a function eachWithIndex that works with anything iterable.

You could also write a similar function eachWithKey that works with objets using for...in.

// example generator (returns an iterator that can only be iterated once)
function* eachFromTo(start, end) { for (let i = start; i <= end; i++) yield i }

// convers an iterable to an array (potential infinite loop)
function eachToArray(iterable) {
    const result = []
    for (const val of iterable) result.push(val)
    return result
}

// yields every value and index of an iterable (array, generator, ...)
function* eachWithIndex(iterable) {
    const shared = new Array(2)
    shared[1] = 0
    for (shared[0] of iterable) {
        yield shared
        shared[1]++
    }
}

console.log('iterate values and indexes from a generator')
for (const [val, i] of eachWithIndex(eachFromTo(10, 13))) console.log(val, i)

console.log('create an array')
const anArray = eachToArray(eachFromTo(10, 13))
console.log(anArray)

console.log('iterate values and indexes from an array')
for (const [val, i] of eachWithIndex(anArray)) console.log(val, i)

The good thing with generators is that they are lazy and can take another generator's result as an argument.

Answer 6

That's my version of a composite iterator that yields an index and any passed generator function's value with an example of (slow) prime search:

const eachWithIndex = (iterable) => {
  return {
    *[Symbol.iterator]() {
      let i = 0
      for(let val of iteratable) {
        i++
          yield [i, val]
      }
    }
  }

}

const isPrime = (n) => {
  for (i = 2; i < Math.floor(Math.sqrt(n) + 1); i++) {
    if (n % i == 0) {
      return false
    }
  }
  return true
}

let primes = {
  *[Symbol.iterator]() {
    let candidate = 2
    while (true) {
      if (isPrime(candidate)) yield candidate
        candidate++
    }
  }
}

for (const [i, prime] of eachWithIndex(primes)) {
  console.log(i, prime)
  if (i === 100) break
}