COMP519 Web Programming

Lecture 14: JavaScript (Part 5)

Handouts

Ullrich Hustadt

Department of Computer Science

School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Computer Science
University of Liverpool
Arrays Arrays Literals

Array Literals
• An array literal is a comma-separated list of values enclosed in
square brackets
[2 ,3 ,5 ,7 ,11]

Each element of that list has an index position

given by the number of other elements preceding it
; the first index position is 0
[2 ,3 ,5 ,7 ,11]
| | | | |
0 1 2 3 4
• The values in an array literal do not need to be of the same type
[2 , ’ two ’ ,3 ," three " ,1.1 e1 , true ]

• The values in an array literal can include other array literals

(nested array literal)
[2 ,[3 ,5] ,[7 ,[11]]]

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 1

Arrays Arrays Literals

Operators on Array Literals

• It is possible to access an element of an array literal via its index
position: arrayLiteral[index]
[2 ,3 ,5 ,7 ,11][1] // returns 3

• For a nested array literal, it is possible to iterate this access operation

[2 ,[3 ,5] ,[7 ,[11]]][1] // returns [3 ,5]
| | |
0 1 2

[2 ,[3 ,5] ,[7 ,[11]]][1][0] // returns 3

• The length operation returns the number of elements in an array

literal: arrayLiteral.length
[2 ,3 ,5 ,7 ,11]. length // returns 5

• We will discuss more operators in the context of array variables

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 2

Arrays Definition

Arrays
• An array is created by assigning an array literal to a variable
var arrayVar = []
var arrayVar = [ elem0 , elem1 , ... ]

• All operations that can be performed on array literals can be performed

on arrays:
arrayVar[index] returns the element at position index
arrayVar.length returns the length of the array
(highest index position plus one)
• Arrays have no fixed length and it is always possible to add more
elements to an array
• Accessing an element of an array that has not been assigned a value yet
returns undefined

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 3

Arrays Definition

Arrays
• It is possible to assign a value to arrayVar.length
• if the assigned value is greater than the previous value of arrayVar.length,
then the array is ‘extended’ by additional undefined elements
• if the assigned value is smaller than the previous value of arrayVar.length,
then array elements with greater or equal index will be deleted
• Assigning an array to a new variable creates a reference to the
original array
; changes to the new variable affect the original array
• Arrays are also passed to functions by reference
• The slice function can be used to create a proper copy of an array:
object arrayVar.slice(start, end)
returns a copy of those elements of array variable that have indices
between start and end

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 4

Arrays Definition

Arrays: Example
var array1 = [ ’ hello ’ , [1 , 2] , function () { return 5} , 43]
console . log ("1: array1 . length = "+ array1 . length )
console . log ("2: array1 [3] ="+ array1 [3])
1: array1 . length = 4
2: array1 [3] = 43
array1 [5] = ’ world ’
console . log ("3: array1 . length = "+ array1 . length )
console . log ("4: array1 [4] ="+ array1 [4])
console . log ("5: array1 [5] ="+ array1 [5])
3: array1 . length = 6
4: array1 [4] = undefined
5: array1 [5] = world
array1 . length = 4
console . log ("6: array1 [5] ="+ array1 [5])
6: array1 [5] = undefined
var array2 = array1
array2 [3] = 7
console . log ("7: array1 [3] ="+ array1 [3])
7: array1 [3] = 7

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 5

Arrays Iteration: for-loop and forEach-method

forEach-method
• The recommended way to iterate over all elements of an array is a
for-loop
for ( index = 0; index < arrayVar . length ; index ++) {
... arrayVar [ index ] ...
}

• An alternative is the use of the forEach method:

var callback = function ( elem , index , arrayArg ) {
statements
}
array . forEach ( callback );

• The forEach method takes a function as an argument

• It iterates over all indices/elements of an array
• It passes the current array element (elem), the current index (index) and
a pointer to the array (arrayArg) to the function
• Return values of that function are ignored,
but the function may have side effecs
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 6
Arrays Iteration: for-loop and forEach-method

forEach-method
var rewriteNames = function ( elem , index , arr ) {
arr [ index ] = elem . replace (/(\ w +)\ s (\ w +)/ , " $2 , $1 ");
}

var myArray = [ ’ Dave Jackson ’ , ’ Ullrich Hustadt ’];

myArray . forEach ( rewriteNames );

for ( i =0; i < myArray . length ; i ++) {

console . log ( ’ myArray [ ’+ i + ’] = ’+ myArray [ i ]);
}
myArray [0] = Jackson , Dave
myArray [1] = Hustadt , Ullrich

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 7

Arrays Example

Arrays and Functions: Example

function bubble_sort ( array ) {
if (!( array && array . constructor == Array ))
throw (" Argument not an array ")
for ( let i =0; i < array . length ; i ++) {
for ( let j =0; j < array . length - i ; j ++) {
if ( array [ j +1] < array [ j ]) {
// swap can change array because array is
// passed by reference
swap ( array , j , j +1)
}
}
}
return array
}

function swap ( array , i , j ) {

let tmp = array [ i ]
array [ i ] = array [ j ]
array [ j ] = tmp
}
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 8
Arrays Example

Arrays and Functions: Example

• Inner functions have access to the variables of outer functions
function bubble_sort ( array ) {
function swap (i , j ) {
// swap can change array because array is
// a local variable of the outer function bubble_sort
let tmp = array [ i ];
array [ i ] = array [ j ];
array [ j ] = tmp ;
}
if (!( array && array . constructor == Array ))
throw (" Argument not an array ")
for ( var i =0; i < array . length ; i ++) {
for ( var j =0; j < array . length - i ; j ++) {
if ( array [ j +1] < array [ j ]) swap (j , j +1)
} }
return array }

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 9

Arrays Example

Arrays and Functions: Example

function bubble_sort ( array ) { ... }

array = [20 ,4 ,3 ,9 ,6 ,8 ,5 ,10]

console . log (" array before sorting " +
array . join (" , "))
sorted = bubble_sort ( array . slice (0)) // slice creates copy
console . log (" array after sorting of copy " +
array . join (" , "))
sorted = bubble_sort ( array )
console . log (" array after sorting of itself " +
array . join (" , "))
console . log (" sorted array " +
sorted . join (" , "))

array before sorting 20 , 4 , 3 , 9 , 6 , 8 , 5 , 10

array after sorting of copy 20 , 4 , 3 , 9 , 6 , 8 , 5 , 10
array after sorting of itself 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 20
sorted array 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 20

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 10

Arrays Array functions

Stacks and Queues

Stack
A collection of items that are inserted and removed according to the
last-in first-out (LIFO) principle
• push adds an item to the top of the stack
• pop removes the top item from the stack

Queue
A collection of items that are inserted and removed according to the
first-in first-out (FIFO) principle
• enqueue adds an item to the back of the queue
• dequeue removes the item at the front of the queue

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 11

Arrays Array functions

Array functions

JavaScript has no stack or queue data structures,

but has stack and queue functions for arrays:
• number array.push(value1, value2,...)
appends one or more elements at the end of an array (enqueue);
returns the number of elements in the resulting array
• mixed array.pop()
extracts the last element from an array and returns it
• mixed array.shift()
shift extracts the first element of an array (dequeue) and returns it
• number array.unshift(value1, value2,...)
inserts one or more elements at the start of an array variable;
returns the number of elements in the resulting array

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 12

Arrays Array functions

Array operators: push, pop, shift, unshift

planets = [" earth "]
planets . unshift (" mercury " ," venus ")
planets . push (" mars " ," jupiter " ," saturn ");
console . log (" planets []: " + planets . join (" "))
planets []: mercury venus earth mars jupiter saturn
last = planets . pop ()
console . log (" last : " + planets . join (" "))
console . log (" planets []: " + planets . join (" "))
last : saturn
planets []: mercury venus earth mars jupiter
first = planets . shift ()
console . log (" first : " + first )
console . log (" planets []: " + planets . join (" "))
first : mercury
planets []: venus earth mars jupiter
number = [" earth "]. push (" mars ");
console . log (" number : " + number )
number : 2
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 13
Equality and Program Behaviour

Equality and Program Behaviour

Why do we care whether 5 == true is true or false?
; it influences how our programs behave
; it influences whether more complex objects are equal or not
JavaScript:
if (5) document . writeln ("5 is true ");
else document . writeln ("5 is not true ")
document . writeln (" and ")
if (5 == true ) document . writeln ("5 is equal to true ")
else document . writeln ("5 is not equal to true ")
Output: 5 is true and 5 is not equal to true
PHP:
if (5) print ("5 is true ");
else print ("5 is not true ");
print (" and ");
if (5 == true ) print ("5 is equal to true ");
else print ("5 is not equal to true ");
Output: 5 is true and 5 is equal to true
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 14
Equality and Program Behaviour

Equality and Program Behaviour

Why do we care whether 5 == true is true or false?
; it influences how our scripts behave
; it influences whether more complex objects are equal or not
JavaScript:
$array3 = ["1.23 e2 " ,5]
$array4 = ["12.3 e1 " , true ]
if (( $array3 [1] == $array4 [1]) && ( $array3 [2] == $array4 [2]))
console . log (" The two arrays are equal ")
else console . log (" The two arrays are not equal ")
Output: The two arrays are not equal
PHP:
$array3 = array ("1.23 e2 " ,5);
$array4 = array ("12.3 e1 " , true );
if (( $array3 [1] == $array4 [1]) && ( $array3 [2] == $array4 [2]))
print (" The two arrays are equal ");
else print (" The two arrays are not equal ");
Output: The two arrays are equal
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 15
Equality and Program Behaviour

Equality and Program Behaviour

Note: The way in which more complex data structures are compared
also differs between PHP and JavaScript

JavaScript:
$array3 = ["1.23 e2 " ,5]
$array4 = ["12.3 e1 " , true ]
if ( $array3 == $array4 )
console . log (" The two arrays are equal ")
else console . log (" The two arrays are not equal ")
Output: The two arrays are not equal

PHP:
$array3 = array ("1.23 e2 " ,5);
$array4 = array ("12.3 e1 " , true );
if ( $array3 == $array4 )
print (" The two arrays are equal ");
else print (" The two arrays are not equal ");
Output: The two arrays are equal
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 16
Equality and Program Behaviour

Equality and Program Behaviour

Note: The way in which more complex data structures are compared
also differs between PHP and JavaScript

JavaScript:
$array3 = ["1.23 e2 " ,5]
$array4 = ["1.23 e2 " ,5]
if ( $array3 == $array4 )
console . log (" The two arrays are equal ")
else console . log (" The two arrays are not equal ")
Output: The two arrays are not equal

PHP:
$array3 = array ("1.23 e2 " ,5);
$array4 = array ("12.3 e1 " ,5);
if ( $array3 == $array4 )
print (" The two arrays are equal ");
else print (" The two arrays are not equal ");
Output: The two arrays are equal
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 17
JavaScript Libraries

JavaScript libraries
• Collections of JavaScript functions (and other code), libraries,
can be stored in one or more files and then be reused
• By convention, files containing a JavaScript library are given
the file name extension .js
• <script>-tags are not allowed to occur in the file
• A JavaScript library is imported using
< script src =" url " > </ script >

where url is the (relative or absolute) URL for library

< script src =" http :// cgi . csc . liv . ac . uk / ∼ ullrich / jsLib . js " >
</ script >

• One such import statement is required for each library

• Import statements are typically placed in the head section of a page or
at the end of the body section (see next slide)
• Web browers typically cache libraries
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 18
JavaScript Libraries

JavaScript Libraries: Import Statements

• JavaScript code may change the HTML markup of an HTML document
• Consequently, whenever a browers encounters a script element,
by default, it stops parsing the remaining HTML markup of the page
until that script element has been processed
; poor user experience
• ‘Safe solution’: Put script elements at the end of the body element
• ‘Better solution’: Use the async or defer attribute of the script
element to change the default behaviour
< script src =" jsLib1 . js " async > </ script >
< script src =" jsLib2 . js " async > </ script >
Do not wait for the processing of the script elements, fetch and
execute jsLib1.js and jsLib2.js (in parallel) in any order
< script src =" jsLib1 . js " defer > </ script >
< script src =" jsLib2 . js " defer > </ script >
Do not wait, fetch jsLib1.js and jsLib2.js (in parallel), execute in
order after parsing is finished
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 19
JavaScript Libraries

JavaScript Libraries: Example

~ullrich/public_html/sort.js
function bubble_sort ( array ) {
function swap (i , j ) { ... }
... swap (j , j +1) ...
return array
}
example.html
< html lang =" en - GB " >
< head > < title > Sorting example </ title >
< script src =" http :// cgi . csc . liv . ac . uk / ∼ ullrich / sort . js " >
</ script >
</ head >
< body >
< script >
array = [20 ,4 ,3 ,9 ,6 ,8 ,5 ,10];
sorted = bubble_sort ( array . slice (0))
</ script >
</ body >
</ html >
COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 20
Further Reading

Revision and Further Reading

• Read
• Chapter 15: Arrays
of R. Nixon: Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript:
with jQuery, CSS & HTML5. O’Reilly, 2018.
• Read
• Chapter 5: Reference Types: The Array Type
of N. C. Zakas: Professional JavaScript for Web developers.
Wrox Press, 2009.
Harold Cohen Library 518.59.Z21 or
E-book http://library.liv.ac.uk/record=b2238913

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 21

Further Reading

Revision and Further Reading

• Read
• Flavio Copes: Efficiently load JavaScript with defer and async. 24 March
2018. https://flaviocopes.com/javascript-async-defer/ (accessed
16 October 2019)
• Ravi Roshan: Async Defer: JavaScript Loading Strategies. Medium,
3 January 2019. https://medium.com/@raviroshan.talk/
async-defer-javascript-loading-strategies-da489a0ba47e.
(accessed 16 October 2019)
• Mozilla and individual contributors: Window: load event.
MDN Web DOcs, 4 October 2019. https:
//developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/load_event
(accessed 16 October 2019)

COMP519 Web Programming Lecture 14 Slide L14 – 22