Javascript - Sum two arrays in single iteration

Question

I want to sum each value of an array of numbers with its corresponding value in a different array of numbers, and I want to do this without looping through each individual v

Answer 1

I know this is an old question but I was just discussing this with someone and we came up with another solution. You still need a loop but you can accomplish this with the Array.prototype.map().

var array1 = [1,2,3,4];
var array2 = [5,6,7,8];

var sum = array1.map(function (num, idx) {
  return num + array2[idx];
}); // [6,8,10,12]

Answer 2

Just merge Popovich and twalters's answer.

Array.prototype.SumArray = function (arr) {

        var sum = this.map(function (num, idx) {
          return num + arr[idx];
        });

        return sum;
    }
var array1 = [1,2,3,4];
var array2 = [5,6,7,8];
var sum = array1.SumArray(array2);
console.log(sum); // [6,8,10,12]

Answer 3

Here is a generic solution for N arrays of possibly different lengths.

It uses Array.prototype.reduce(), Array.prototype.map(), Math.max() and Array.from():

function sumArrays(...arrays) {
  const n = arrays.reduce((max, xs) => Math.max(max, xs.length), 0);
  const result = Array.from({ length: n });
  return result.map((_, i) => arrays.map(xs => xs[i] || 0).reduce((sum, x) => sum + x, 0));
}

console.log(...sumArrays([0, 1, 2], [1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 2])); // 2 5 5 4

Answer 4

Below example will work even with length variation and few more use cases. check out. you can do prototyping as well if you needed.

function sumArray(a, b) {
      var c = [];
      for (var i = 0; i < Math.max(a.length, b.length); i++) {
        c.push((a[i] || 0) + (b[i] || 0));
      }
      return c;
}

// First Use Case.
var a = [1, 2, 3, 4];
var b = [1, 2, 3, 4];
console.log( sumArray(a, b) );

// Second Use Case with different Length.
var a = [1, 2, 3, 4];
var b = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
console.log( sumArray(a, b) );

// Third Use Case with undefined values and invalid length.
var a = [1, 2, 3, 4];
var b = [];
b[1] = 2;
b[3] = 4;
b[9] = 9;
console.log( sumArray(a, b) );

Answer 5

Generic solution for N arrays of possibly different lengths using functional programming in one line ;)

const sumArrays = as => as.filter(a => a.length).length ? [as.filter(a => a.length).reduce((r, a) => r + a.shift(), 0), ...sumArrays(as)] : []

console.log(sumArrays([[1, 2, 3], [100], [11, 22, 33, 44], []]))

Answer 6

You can't avoid the loop, but you can do this once and add a function to all Array objects using Array.prototype.

Here's and example:

// Add a SumArray method to all arrays by expanding the Array prototype(do this once in a general place)
Array.prototype.SumArray = function (arr) {
    var sum = [];
    if (arr != null && this.length == arr.length) {
        for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
            sum.push(this[i] + arr[i]);
        }
    }

    return sum;
}

// here's your code
var array1 = [1, 2, 3, 4];
var array2 = [5, 6, 7, 8];
var sum = array1.SumArray(array2);
console.log(sum); // [6,8,10,12]

Here's your Fiddle.