How to get unique values in an array

Question

How can I get a list of unique values in an array? Do I always have to use a second array or is there something similar to java\'s hashmap in JavaScript?

I am going

Answer 1

Fast, compact, no nested loops, works with any object not just strings and numbers, takes a predicate, and only 5 lines of code!!

function findUnique(arr, predicate) {
  var found = {};
  arr.forEach(d => {
    found[predicate(d)] = d;
  });
  return Object.keys(found).map(key => found[key]); 
}

Example: To find unique items by type:

var things = [
  { name: 'charm', type: 'quark'},
  { name: 'strange', type: 'quark'},
  { name: 'proton', type: 'boson'},
];

var result = findUnique(things, d => d.type);
//  [
//    { name: 'charm', type: 'quark'},
//    { name: 'proton', type: 'boson'}
//  ] 

If you want it to find the first unique item instead of the last add a found.hasOwnPropery() check in there.