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Introducing a Better Way to Replace Array Values in JavaScript! 🚀

Shameel Uddin on December 06, 2023

I have been using splice method to replace array values but recently learned a newer way for this purpose, thus sharing it with the rest. ...
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Michael Tharrington •

Nice on, Shameel! 🔥

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Shameel Uddin •

Thanks! =D

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lionel-rowe • • Edited

Not only is this approach cumbersome, but it also lacks the clarity we crave in modern JavaScript development. 😩

It's true the API is a little cumbersome (often you want to either remove elements or add them, not do both in the same operation), but the main issue with it is in-place mutation. Sometimes that can be useful, but more often than not you want a copy of the array instead.

Array#with isn't a drop-in immutable replacement for Array#splice; it only covers the Array#splice(existingIndex, 1, singleReplacement) case. It's a much better API for that use case, but not as versatile as Array#splice.

There is now a drop-in immutable replacement though, which is called Array#toSpliced. It has an identical API to Array#splice, except it doesn't mutate the original array and returns the copied array with modifications.