How to compare arrays in JavaScript?

Question

I'd like to compare two arrays... ideally, efficiently. Nothing fancy, just true if they are identical, and false if not. Not surprisingly, the comparison operator doesn't seem to work.

var a1 = [1,2,3];
var a2 = [1,2,3];
console.log(a1==a2);    // Returns false
console.log(JSON.stringify(a1)==JSON.stringify(a2));    // Returns true

JSON encoding each array does, but is there a faster or "better" way to simply compare arrays without having to iterate through each value?

Answer 1

This function compares two arrays of arbitrary shape and dimesionality:

function equals(a1, a2) {

    if (!Array.isArray(a1) || !Array.isArray(a2)) {
        throw new Error("Arguments to function equals(a1, a2) must be arrays.");
    }

    if (a1.length !== a2.length) {
        return false;
    }

    for (var i=0; i<a1.length; i++) {
        if (Array.isArray(a1[i]) && Array.isArray(a2[i])) {
            if (equals(a1[i], a2[i])) {
                continue;
            } else {
                return false;
            }
        } else {
            if (a1[i] !== a2[i]) {
                return false;
            }
        }
    }

    return true;
}

Answer 2

for single dimension array you can simply use:

arr1.sort().toString() == arr2.sort().toString()

this will also take care of array with mismatched index.

Answer 3

We could do this the functional way, using every (https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/every)

function compareArrays(array1, array2) {
    if (array1.length === array2.length)
        return array1.every((a, index) => a === array2[index])
    else
        return false
}

// test
var a1 = [1,2,3];
var a2 = [1,2,3];

var a3 = ['a', 'r', 'r', 'a', 'y', '1']
var a4 = ['a', 'r', 'r', 'a', 'y', '2']

console.log(compareArrays(a1,a2)) // true
console.log(compareArrays(a1,a3)) // false
console.log(compareArrays(a3,a4)) // false

Answer 4

var a1 = [1,2,3,6];
var a2 = [1,2,3,5];

function check(a, b) {
  return (a.length != b.length) ? false : 
  a.every(function(row, index) {
    return a[index] == b[index];
  });
}  

check(a1, a2);

////// OR ///////

var a1 = [1,2,3,6];
var a2 = [1,2,3,6];

function check(a, b) {
  return (a.length != b.length) ? false : 
  !(a.some(function(row, index) {
    return a[index] != b[index];
  }));
}  

check(a1, a2)

Answer 5

My solution compares Objects, not Arrays. This would work in the same way as Tomáš's as Arrays are Objects, but without the Warning:

Object.prototype.compare_to = function(comparable){

    // Is the value being compared an object
    if(comparable instanceof Object){

        // Count the amount of properties in @comparable
        var count_of_comparable = 0;
        for(p in comparable) count_of_comparable++;

        // Loop through all the properties in @this
        for(property in this){

            // Decrements once for every property in @this
            count_of_comparable--;

            // Prevents an infinite loop
            if(property != "compare_to"){

                // Is the property in @comparable
                if(property in comparable){

                    // Is the property also an Object
                    if(this[property] instanceof Object){

                        // Compare the properties if yes
                        if(!(this[property].compare_to(comparable[property]))){

                            // Return false if the Object properties don't match
                            return false;
                        }
                    // Are the values unequal
                    } else if(this[property] !== comparable[property]){

                        // Return false if they are unequal
                        return false;
                    }
                } else {

                    // Return false if the property is not in the object being compared
                    return false;
                }
            }
        }
    } else {

        // Return false if the value is anything other than an object
        return false;
    }

    // Return true if their are as many properties in the comparable object as @this
    return count_of_comparable == 0;
}

Hope this helps you or anyone else searching for an answer.

Answer 6

To compare arrays, loop through them and compare every value:

Comparing arrays:

// Warn if overriding existing method
if(Array.prototype.equals)
    console.warn("Overriding existing Array.prototype.equals. Possible causes: New API defines the method, there's a framework conflict or you've got double inclusions in your code.");
// attach the .equals method to Array's prototype to call it on any array
Array.prototype.equals = function (array) {
    // if the other array is a falsy value, return
    if (!array)
        return false;

    // compare lengths - can save a lot of time 
    if (this.length != array.length)
        return false;

    for (var i = 0, l=this.length; i < l; i++) {
        // Check if we have nested arrays
        if (this[i] instanceof Array && array[i] instanceof Array) {
            // recurse into the nested arrays
            if (!this[i].equals(array[i]))
                return false;       
        }           
        else if (this[i] != array[i]) { 
            // Warning - two different object instances will never be equal: {x:20} != {x:20}
            return false;   
        }           
    }       
    return true;
}
// Hide method from for-in loops
Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype, "equals", {enumerable: false});

Usage:

[1, 2, [3, 4]].equals([1, 2, [3, 2]]) === false;
[1, "2,3"].equals([1, 2, 3]) === false;
[1, 2, [3, 4]].equals([1, 2, [3, 4]]) === true;
[1, 2, 1, 2].equals([1, 2, 1, 2]) === true;

You may say "But it is much faster to compare strings - no loops..." well, then you should note there ARE loops. First recursive loop that converts Array to string and second, that compares two strings. So this method is faster than use of string.

_{I believe that larger amounts of data should be always stored in arrays, not in objects. However if you use objects, they can be partially compared too.
Here's how:}

Comparing objects:

I've stated above, that two object instances will never be equal, even if they contain same data at the moment:

({a:1, foo:"bar", numberOfTheBeast: 666}) == ({a:1, foo:"bar", numberOfTheBeast: 666})  //false

This has a reason, since there may be, for example private variables within objects.

However, if you just use object structure to contain data, comparing is still possible:

Object.prototype.equals = function(object2) {
    //For the first loop, we only check for types
    for (propName in this) {
        //Check for inherited methods and properties - like .equals itself
        //https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/hasOwnProperty
        //Return false if the return value is different
        if (this.hasOwnProperty(propName) != object2.hasOwnProperty(propName)) {
            return false;
        }
        //Check instance type
        else if (typeof this[propName] != typeof object2[propName]) {
            //Different types => not equal
            return false;
        }
    }
    //Now a deeper check using other objects property names
    for(propName in object2) {
        //We must check instances anyway, there may be a property that only exists in object2
            //I wonder, if remembering the checked values from the first loop would be faster or not 
        if (this.hasOwnProperty(propName) != object2.hasOwnProperty(propName)) {
            return false;
        }
        else if (typeof this[propName] != typeof object2[propName]) {
            return false;
        }
        //If the property is inherited, do not check any more (it must be equa if both objects inherit it)
        if(!this.hasOwnProperty(propName))
          continue;

        //Now the detail check and recursion

        //This returns the script back to the array comparing
        /**REQUIRES Array.equals**/
        if (this[propName] instanceof Array && object2[propName] instanceof Array) {
                   // recurse into the nested arrays
           if (!this[propName].equals(object2[propName]))
                        return false;
        }
        else if (this[propName] instanceof Object && object2[propName] instanceof Object) {
                   // recurse into another objects
                   //console.log("Recursing to compare ", this[propName],"with",object2[propName], " both named \""+propName+"\"");
           if (!this[propName].equals(object2[propName]))
                        return false;
        }
        //Normal value comparison for strings and numbers
        else if(this[propName] != object2[propName]) {
           return false;
        }
    }
    //If everything passed, let's say YES
    return true;
}  

However, remember that this one is to serve in comparing JSON like data, not class instances and other stuff. If you want to compare mor complicated objects, look at this answer and it's superlong function.
To make this work with Array.equals you must edit the original function a little bit:

...
    // Check if we have nested arrays
    if (this[i] instanceof Array && array[i] instanceof Array) {
        // recurse into the nested arrays
        if (!this[i].equals(array[i]))
            return false;
    }
    /**REQUIRES OBJECT COMPARE**/
    else if (this[i] instanceof Object && array[i] instanceof Object) {
        // recurse into another objects
        //console.log("Recursing to compare ", this[propName],"with",object2[propName], " both named \""+propName+"\"");
        if (!this[i].equals(array[i]))
            return false;
        }
    else if (this[i] != array[i]) {
...

I made a little test tool for both of the functions.

Bonus: Nested arrays with indexOf and contains

Samy Bencherif has prepared useful functions for the case you're searching for a specific object in nested arrays, which are available here: https://jsfiddle.net/SamyBencherif/8352y6yw/