IArray

An Immutable Array that looks, behaves (and IS) a standard JavaScript Array but with immutable properties.

For immutable Objects, see IObject

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Why

One of the cornerstones of functional programming is immutable data structures. Using immutable data structures insures to the author and other programmers that once they have a handle to an object, it won't change beneath their feet. This is important for reasoning about code. It aids with testing, debugging and refactoring. It provides a much faster way to determine if state has changed. And it helps you write pure functions.

Arrays are an extremely popular data structure in most JavaScript programs. But they are far from immutable. One can simply assign values to an array at a given index via myArray[10] = 100. And many of the Array methods are mutating, such as push, sort and slice.

Some libraries exist that provide random access data structures similar to the Array but that are immutable, such as Mori or Immutable - but they are large opinionated libraries that expose a completely different API.

IArray provides an Immutable array only, and is very light.

wc -l IArray.js
146 IArray.js

146 lines in the source file, much of which is comments and the universal module definition.

How

IArray extends the Array object by building a prototype which includes Array.prototype. This enables IArray to offer all the API methods contained in the standard Array, and appear to debuggers and most other type checkers as an Array

const a = IArray()
if(a instanceof Array) // true!
// ...

But IArray intercepts calls to mutating methods, such as push and internally clones the array, calls the Array.push using your same arguments, and finally returning a new IArray with the result.

So mutating methods all exist, but their behavior is slightly different - returning a new IArray with the changes applied, rather than mutating the array upon which its called.

In cases where a method mutated the underlying array and also returned a value (such as pop), the value is available at IArray.ret.

API

Since this extends the standard JavaScript Array, I will only document the methods that have changed from the standard Array API. These include 3 new methods, rm, rmAt and set along with several methods from the Array API whose behavior is slightly changed to reflect the immutable nature of IArray.

concat(value1[, value2 ...]) => IArray

Behaves just as the standard Array.concat with the exception that the returned array is an IArray.

IArray([1, 2, 3]).concat([7, 8]) // => IArray([1, 2, 3, 7, 8])
IArray().concat(IArray([3, 4, 5]) // => IArray([3, 4, 5])
IArray([1, 2, 3]).concat(100) // => IArray([1, 2, 3, 100])

copyWithin(target[, start[, end]]) => IArray

Behaves just as the standard Array.copyWithin with the exception that the returned array is an IArray and the original array is not modified

var a = IArray([5, 6, 7, 8])
var b = a.copyWithin(2) // => IArray([5, 6, 5, 6]) (a unmodified)

fill(target[, start[, end]]) => IArray

Behaves just as the standard Array.fill with the exception that the returned array is an IArray.

var a1 = IArray([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
var a2 = a1.fill(9, 2, 4)
// a1 = IArray([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]) - this shouldn't change
// a2 = IArray([1, 2, 9, 9, 5]) - fill 9s starting at item 2, ending at 4

filter(fn[, thisArg]) => IArray

Behaves just as the standard Array.filter with the exception that the returned array is an IArray.

function even(n) { return n % 2 === 0 }
 
var a1 = IArray([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6])
var a2 = a1.filter(even)
// a1 = IArray([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]) - this shouldn't change
// a2 = IArray([2, 4, 6]) - even values only

map(fn[, thisArg]) => IArray

Behaves just as the standard Array.map with the exception that the returned array is an IArray.

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9, 25])
var a2 = a1.map(Math.sqrt)
// a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9, 25]) - ensure it is unchanged
// a2 = IArray([1, 2, 3, 5]) - mapped values

push(value1, ..., valuen) => IArray

The same API signature as the standard Array.push, but the original IArray is not modified. A new IArray is returned with the value(s) appended, and the length property is stored in the ret property (which is mostly redundant since it is also available in the length property - but is included for consistency)

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])
var a2 = a1.push(100)
// a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])
// a2 = IArray([1, 4, 9, 100])

pop() => IArray

The same API signature as the standard Array.pop, but the original IArray is not modified. A new IArray is returned with the last value removed, and the value that was removed is stored in the ret property.

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])
var a2 = a1.pop()
// a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])	- unchanged
// a2 = IArray([1, 4])		- same as a1 with last element removed
// a2.ret = 9				- last element stored in ret property

rm(value) => IArray

Returns a new IArray with the value specified removed. If multiple occurrences of the value exists, the first one is removed. The removed value appears on the ret property of the newly created IArray. If the value does not exist in the array, no error is thrown, but the ret property contains undefined.

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])		// a1 is [ 1, 4, 9 ]
var a2 = a1.rm(4)				// a2 is [ 1, 9 ]
log(a2.ret)						// 4
var a3 = a2.rm(6)				// this doesn't exist, so a3 is [ 1, 9 ]
log(a3.ret)						// undefined

rmAt(index) => IArray

Returns a new IArray with the value at position index removed. The removed value appears on the ret property of the newly created IArray. If the index position specified is out of the range of the IArray, no error is thrown, but the ret property contains undefined and the values in the returned IArray are unchanged.

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])		// a1 is [ 1, 4, 9 ]
var a2 = a1.rmAt(1)				// a2 is [ 1, 9 ]
log(a2.ret)						// 4
var a3 = a2.rmAt(6)				// position out of range, so a3 is [ 1, 9 ]
log(a3.ret)						// undefined

set(index, value) => IArray

Used to assign a value to a specific index within the IArray. This is used as a substitute to the array[index] = value notation, which mutates the array. The returned IArray is a copy of the original array with value assigned at the index specified.

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])
var a2 = a1.set(1, 6)
// a1 = IArray(1, 4, 9]) - unchanged
// a2 = IArray(1, 6, 9]) - item at index 1 is a 6

shift() => IArray

The same API signature as the standard Array.shift, but the original IArray is not modified. A new IArray is returned with the first element removed. This removed element is available through the ret property of the returned IArray.

var a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])
var a2 = a1.shift()
 
// a1 = IArray([1, 4, 9])	- no change
// a2 = IArray([4, 9])		- first value removed
// a2.ret = 1 				- removed value

slice([begin[, end]]) => IArray

Behaves just as the standard Array.slice with the exception that the returned array is an IArray.

var a1 = IArray([5, 10, 15, 20])
var a2 = a1.slice(1, 3)
// a1 = IArray([5, 10, 15, 20])) - no changes
// a2 = IArray([10, 15])) - elements 1 to 3 (non-inclusive)

sort([compareFn]) => IArray

Behaves just like the standard Array.sort with the exception that the original IArray is not modified, and the newly sorted IArray is returned.

var fruit = ["cherries", "apples", "bananas", "pears"]
var a1 = IArray(fruit)
var a2 = a1.sort()
var a3 = a1.sort(function(a, b) { return a.length - b.length }) // sort by word length
// a1 remains unchanged: IArray(["cherries", "apples", "bananas", "pears"])
// a2 is sorted: IArray(["apples", "bananas", "cherries", "pears"])
// a3 is sorted according to comparator: IArray(["pears", "apples", "bananas", "cherries"])

splice([start[, deleteCount[, value1, value2, ...]]]) => IArray

Behaves just like the standard Array.splice with the exception that the original IArray is not modified but is returned as a new IArray. The removed items will be stored as an IArray on the ret property.

var a1 = IArray([5, 10, 15, 20])
var a2 = a1.splice(1, 1, 22)
// a1 is unchanged
// a2 is IArray([5, 22, 15, 20]) - item 1 removed and replaced with 22
// a2.ret is IArray([10]) - the removed items in an IArray

unshift([element1, ..., elementN]) => IArray

The same API signature as the standard Array.unshift, but the original IArray is not modified. A new IArray is returned with elements added to the front of the array.

var a1 = IArray([5, 10, 20])
var a2 = a1.unshift("hello", "world")
 
// a1 = IArray([5, 10, 20])) - unchanged
// a2 = IArray(["hello", "world", 5, 10, 20]))

License

See the LICENSE file for license rights and limitations (MIT).