96

I want to convert the following string '14 2' into an array of two integers. How can I do it ?

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12 Answers 12

229

A quick one for modern browsers:

'14 2'.split(' ').map(Number);

// [14, 2]`
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3 Comments

+1 and just add polyfill for older browser support if required developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/…
nice, but how is this actually working? You are passing in the Number object but im not sure how its converting it. I thought you needed to pass in a function to map through.
yep, that's right. Number() is the function passed to map, and it converts the values. Check out Todd's answer for more details.
90

You can .split() to get an array of strings, then loop through to convert them to numbers, like this:

var myArray = "14 2".split(" ");
for(var i=0; i<myArray.length; i++) { myArray[i] = +myArray[i]; } 
//use myArray, it's an array of numbers

The +myArray[i] is just a quick way to do the number conversion, if you're sure they're integers you can just do:

for(var i=0; i<myArray.length; i++) { myArray[i] = parseInt(myArray[i], 10); } 

5 Comments

shorter: for(var i=myArray.length; i--;) myArray[i] = myArray[i]|0; using the bitwise conversion and shorter looping
or with ES5: myArray.forEach(function(x,y,z){ z[y]=x|0 })
@vsync - sure...but when any compiler is going to shorten it down even more than that, why make maintaining it painful? :) Clarity is worth a few extra bytes, especially when it won't actually be much longer if at all once minified down.
because for once, I don't minify my published code, so others can read my code and see whats happening, and second, bitwise operations are much faster than parseInt.
@vsync - make sure you test that claim across all browsers, I personally find the + to be more readable...and if you test, most of the latest browsers there's a negligible difference, either way - depending on the engine. Also, you can offer a .min.js and .js if you want to expose your code...remember that minification isn't for obscurity (or shouldn't be, since it's about useless for that), it's for reducing HTTP overhead - a faster page load for your users.
37

SO...older thread, I know, but...

EDIT

@RoccoMusolino had a nice catch; here's an alternative:

TL;DR:

 const intArray = [...("5 6 7 69 foo 0".split(' ').filter(i => /\d/g.test(i)))]

WRONG: "5 6 note this foo".split(" ").map(Number).filter(Boolean); // [5, 6]

There is a subtle flaw in the more elegant solutions listed here, specifically @amillara and @Marcus' otherwise beautiful answers.

The problem occurs when an element of the string array isn't integer-like, perhaps in a case without validation on an input. For a contrived example...

The problem:


var effedIntArray = "5 6 7 69 foo".split(' ').map(Number); // [5, 6, 7, 69, NaN]

Since you obviously want a PURE int array, that's a problem. Honestly, I didn't catch this until I copy-pasted SO code into my script... :/


The (slightly-less-baller) fix:


var intArray = "5 6 7 69 foo".split(" ").map(Number).filter(Boolean); // [5, 6, 7, 69]

So, now even when you have crap int string, your output is a pure integer array. The others are really sexy in most cases, but I did want to offer my mostly rambly w'actually. It is still a one-liner though, to my credit...

Hope it saves someone time!

3 Comments

Totes baller enough for me. Thanks, Todd!
Watch out, this won't work if your string contains one or more 0. Zero translate to a boolean=false, so the boolean filter won't keep it.
you can replace .filter(Boolean) with .filter( (x) => !Number.isNaN(x))
27
var result = "14 2".split(" ").map(function(x){return parseInt(x)});

3 Comments

Not all browsers support this - it'll break in IE, this is a JavaScript 1.6+ feature. Also, I said on another answer, always pass a radix to parseInt().
I so look forward to when we can use .map and similar in JS in any browser without additional libraries.
IE lives because we support it. Stop the agony!
5

An alternative to Tushar Gupta answer would be :

'14 2'.split(' ').map(x=>+x);

// [14, 2]`

In code golf you save 1 character. Here the "+" is "unary plus" operator, works like parseInt.

Comments

3

First split the string on spaces:

var result = '14 2'.split(' ');

Then convert the result array of strings into integers:

for (var i in result) {
    result[i] = parseInt(result[i], 10);
}

3 Comments

You should always pass a radix argument to parseInt(), otherwise you may get octals in there.
If the strings don't begin with 0, or 0x it should be fine.
If they don't (see how you prefixed that with an assumption?)...why add the 3 characters it takes to make it correct for all those cases too?
3

The point against parseInt-approach:

There's no need to use lambdas and/or give radix parameter to parseInt, just use parseFloat or Number instead.


Reasons:

  1. It's working:

    var src = "1,2,5,4,3";
    var ids = src.split(',').map(parseFloat); // [1, 2, 5, 4, 3]
    
    var obj = {1: ..., 3: ..., 4: ..., 7: ...};
    var keys= Object.keys(obj); // ["1", "3", "4", "7"]
    var ids = keys.map(parseFloat); // [1, 3, 4, 7]
    
    var arr = ["1", 5, "7", 11];
    var ints= arr.map(parseFloat); // [1, 5, 7, 11]
    ints[1] === "5" // false
    ints[1] === 5   // true
    ints[2] === "7" // false
    ints[2] === 7   // true
    
  2. It's shorter.

  3. It's a tiny bit quickier and takes advantage of cache, when parseInt-approach - doesn't:

      // execution time measure function
      // keep it simple, yeah?
    > var f = (function (arr, c, n, m) {
          var i,t,m,s=n();
          for(i=0;i++<c;)t=arr.map(m);
          return n()-s
      }).bind(null, "2,4,6,8,0,9,7,5,3,1".split(','), 1000000, Date.now);
    
    > f(Number) // first launch, just warming-up cache
    > 3971 // nice =)
    
    > f(Number)
    > 3964 // still the same
    
    > f(function(e){return+e})
    > 5132 // yup, just little bit slower
    
    > f(function(e){return+e})
    > 5112 // second run... and ok.
    
    > f(parseFloat)
    > 3727 // little bit quicker than .map(Number)
    
    > f(parseFloat)
    > 3737 // all ok
    
    > f(function(e){return parseInt(e,10)})
    > 21852 // awww, how adorable...
    
    > f(function(e){return parseInt(e)})
    > 22928 // maybe, without '10'?.. nope.
    
    > f(function(e){return parseInt(e)})
    > 22769 // second run... and nothing changes.
    
    > f(Number)
    > 3873 // and again
    > f(parseFloat)
    > 3583 // and again
    > f(function(e){return+e})
    > 4967 // and again
    
    > f(function(e){return parseInt(e,10)})
    > 21649 // dammit 'parseInt'! >_<
    

Notice: In Firefox parseInt works about 4 times faster, but still slower than others. In total: +e < Number < parseFloat < parseInt

Comments

2

If the numbers can be separated by more than one space, it is safest to split the string on one or more consecutive whitespace characters (which includes tabs and regular spaces). With a regular expression, this would be \s+.

You can then map each element using the Number function to convert it. Note that parseInt will not work (i.e. arr.map(parseInt)) because map passes three arguments to the mapping function: the element, the index, and the original array. parseInt accepts the base or radix as the second parameter, so it will end up taking the index as the base, often resulting in many NaNs in the result. However, Number ignores any arguments other than the first, so it works directly.

const str = '1\t\t2   3 4';
const result = str.split(/\s+/).map(Number); //[1,2,3,4]

To remove elements that are not numbers, Array#filter can be used in conjunction with isNaN.

const str = '1\t\t2   3 ab  4 c';
const result = str.split(/\s+/).map(Number).filter(x => !isNaN(x)); //[1,2,3,4]

You could also use an anonymous function for the mapping callback with the unary plus operator to convert each element to a number.

const str = '1\t\t2   3 4';
const result = str.split(/\s+/).map(x => +x); //[1,2,3,4]

With an anonymous function for the callback, you can decide what parameters to use, so parseInt can also work.

const str = '1\t\t2   3 4';
const result = str.split(/\s+/).map(x => parseInt(x)); //[1,2,3,4]

Comments

0

Just for fun I thought I'd throw a forEach(f()) solution in too.

var a=[];
"14 2".split(" ").forEach(function(e){a.push(parseInt(e,10))});

// a = [14,2]

Comments

-1
let idsArray = ids.split(',').map((x) => parseInt(x));

1 Comment

While this code may answer the question, providing additional context regarding how and/or why it solves the problem would improve the answer's long-term value.
-1

Better one line solution:

var answerInt = [];
var answerString = "1 2 3 4";
answerString.split(' ').forEach(function (item) {
   answerInt.push(parseInt(item))
});

2 Comments

That's not a string.
That's not one line.
-4

us the split function:

var splitresult = "14 2".split(" ");

2 Comments

This gets an array of strings, not numbers.
Ouups, yes, misread that. See Marcus Whybrow's or Nick Craver's answer for the rest, then.

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