Swapping two elements in an array may seem challenging, but it’s actually quite simple in JavaScript. In this article, we will explore two methods to accomplish this task.
Method 1: Using a Temporary Variable
Let’s assume we have an array a
with five elements: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'e', 'd']
. Our goal is to swap the element at index 4 ('d'
) with the element at index 3 ('e'
).
To achieve this, we can follow these steps:
- Create a temporary variable,
tmp
, and assign it the value of the element at index 4:const tmp = a[4]
. - Replace the element at index 4 with the value of the element at index 3:
a[4] = a[3]
. - Assign the temporary variable (
tmp
) to the element at index 3:a[3] = tmp
.
Here’s the complete code:
const a = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'e', 'd'];
const tmp = a[4];
a[4] = a[3];
a[3] = tmp;
After executing these steps, the array a
will be updated with the swapped elements:
a // ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
Method 2: Using Array Destructuring
An alternative method that doesn’t require declaring a temporary variable is using array destructuring. Here’s how you can achieve this:
const a = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'e', 'd'];
[a[3], a[4]] = [a[4], a[3]];
In this approach, we create a new array using the elements we want to swap, and assign it to [a[4], a[3]]
. The elements are then simultaneously assigned to the corresponding indices within the original array.
This method yields the same result as Method 1:
a // ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
By following either of these methods, you can easily swap two elements within an array in JavaScript.