How to completely delete element from Javascript array

Question

I am using this code to iterate over an array and delete the element if it contains no itemsToPost.

  rssFeeds.forEach(function(feed, index, array){
    if(feed.itemsToPost.length == 0){
      delete rssFeeds[index]
    }
  });

However, the array that I receive from this, assuming that all elements are deleted looks like:

[ ,  ]

And when I run this against Lodash's method to test if an array is empty.

console.log(_.isEmpty(array))) // returns 'false'

How can I completely delete these elements such that the array is truly empty?

Update:

I've found a solution using Array.prototype.filter as was suggested, such as:

  function hasNewItems(array) {
    return array.itemsToPost.length > 0;
  }

  var newArray = rssFeeds.filter(hasNewItems)
  console.log(newArray); // returns []

It isn't necessarily deleting the array but it has the desired effect.

have a look at `Array.prototype.filter` – Daniel A. White Jun 17 '15 at 00:12 — Daniel A. White, Jun 17 '15 at 00:12

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 17 '15 at 00:17

2

delete is not the correct way to remove element from array, you should use rssFeeds.splice(index, 1) instead.

edited Jun 17 '15 at 00:17

Lye Fish

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answered Jun 17 '15 at 00:10

Mariusz Beltowski

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3

This is correct in general, but can cause failures in a loop like in the question. – Lye Fish Jun 17 '15 at 00:14

How to completely delete element from Javascript array

1 Answers1