Array: Insert an Item at a Specific Index with JavaScript

By  on  

There are many tasks related to arrays that sound quite simple but (1) aren't and (2) aren't required of a developer very often. I was encountered with one such task recently: inserting an item into an existing array at a specific index. Sounds easy and common enough but it took some research to figure it out.

// The original array
var array = ["one", "two", "four"];
// splice(position, numberOfItemsToRemove, item)
array.splice(2, 0, "three");

array;  // ["one", "two", "three", "four"]

If you aren't adverse to extending natives in JavaScript, you could add this method to the Array prototype:

Array.prototype.insert = function (index, item) {
  this.splice(index, 0, item);
};

I've tinkered around quite a bit with arrays, as you may have noticed:

Arrays are super useful -- JavaScript just makes some tasks a bit more ... code-heavy than they need to be. Keep these snippets in your toolbox for the future!

Recent Features

  • By
    Responsive and Infinitely Scalable JS Animations

    Back in late 2012 it was not easy to find open source projects using requestAnimationFrame() - this is the hook that allows Javascript code to synchronize with a web browser's native paint loop. Animations using this method can run at 60 fps and deliver fantastic...

  • By
    Chris Coyier’s Favorite CodePen Demos

    David asked me if I'd be up for a guest post picking out some of my favorite Pens from CodePen. A daunting task! There are so many! I managed to pick a few though that have blown me away over the past few months. If you...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Implement jQuery’s hover() Method in MooTools

    jQuery offers a quick event shortcut method called hover that accepts two functions that represent mouseover and mouseout actions. Here's how to implement that for MooTools Elements. The MooTools JavaScript We implement hover() which accepts to functions; one will be called on mouseenter and the other...

  • By
    Create Custom Events in MooTools 1.2

    Javascript has a number of native events like "mouseover," "mouseout", "click", and so on. What if you want to create your own events though? Creating events using MooTools is as easy as it gets. The MooTools JavaScript What's great about creating custom events in MooTools is...

Discussion

  1. Man, isn’t this JavaScript powerful…

  2. MaxArt

    How about a little step further? Since splice takes an indefinite number of arguments, you can do something like this:

    Array.prototype.insert = function (index) {
      this.splice.apply(this, [index, 0].concat(this.slice.call(arguments, 1)));
    };
    

    so you can do

    array.insert(2, "three", "another three", "the last three");
    array;  // ["one", "two", "three", "another three", "the last three", "four"]
    
  3. Great tip, thanks. I knew this trick before but I forgot that splice could take more than 2 arguments, phew.

  4. Yes, it’s a very useful function. Last year I was delighted to find out that it exists – it made the project I was working on extremely useful.

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!