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up vote 1 down vote favorite

If I have an array:

var names = ['John', 'Jim', 'Joe'];

and I want to create a new array from names which afterwards will look like:

newNames = ['John John', 'Jim Jim', 'Joe Joe']

What I came up with is the following:

var newNames = [];
var arr = null;
var loop = 0;

$.each(names, function (i, item) {
  arr = [];
  loop = 2;
  while (loop--) {
    arr.push(item);
  }
  newNames.push(arr.join(' '));
});

Seems like there should be a shorter, easier way to do this. As you can see we can repeat the names with a space n times. I'm experimenting with different ideas/concepts, having fun.

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Aug 4 '12 at 15:55

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.
    
Very good. Thanks much for the reply. –  David Whitten Aug 4 '12 at 12:42

3 Answers 3

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Create a function that operates on values in the manner you want...

function dupe(n) { return n + " " + n }

then use Array.prototype.map...

var newNames = names.map(dupe)

or jQuery's not quite compliant version, $.map...

var newNames = $.map(names, dupe)

You can also create a function factory that will make a dupe function that will add the operate on the value a given number of times.

function dupeFactory(i) {
    return function(n) {
        var j = i-1
        ,   m = n
        while (j--)
            m += " " + n
        return m
    }
}

Then use it like this...

var newNames = names.map(dupeFactory(3))

Or make reuse of the functions created from the factory, by storing them in variables...

var dupe3 = dupeFactory(3),
    dupe6 = dupeFactory(6)

names.map(dupe6)
share|improve this answer
    
Dang, this seems to be pretty straightforward and very clean. Thanks much. –  David Whitten Aug 4 '12 at 12:51
    
@DavidWhitten: You're welcome. I also added a solution that lets you choose how many times you want to append the name. –  squint Aug 4 '12 at 12:52
    
Your dupeFactory does not work, it creates 2^n repetitions... –  Bergi Aug 4 '12 at 12:53
    
jsfiddle.net/6THSR –  squint Aug 4 '12 at 12:58
up vote 5 down vote

You could use the native Array.map method in modern browsers (see MDN)

var newNames = ['John', 'Jim', 'Joe'].map(function(name){return name+' '+name});
//=> ["John John", "Jim Jim", "Joe Joe"]
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up vote 0 down vote

I guess you want to have a variable loop value:

var names = […];

var newNames = names.slice(0); // copy the names for the first part
for (var i=0; i<names.length; i++)
    for (var j=1; j<2; j++) // sic
        newNames[i] += " "+names[i];

Else, for a constantly two times a simple string concatenation will be shorter. Together with .map():

var newNames = names.map(function(name) {
    return name+" "+name;
});
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