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:

  1. Create a temporary variable, tmp, and assign it the value of the element at index 4: const tmp = a[4].
  2. Replace the element at index 4 with the value of the element at index 3: a[4] = a[3].
  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.