Basic Data Structures: Access an Array's Contents Using Bracket Notation

Basic Data Structures: Access an Array's Contents Using Bracket Notation
The fundamental feature of any data structure is, of course, the ability to not only store data, but to be able to retrieve that data on command. So, now that we've learned how to create an array, let's begin to think about how we can access that array's information.

When we define a simple array as seen below, there are 3 items in it:

let ourArray = ["a", "b", "c"];
In an array, each array item has an index. This index doubles as the position of that item in the array, and how you reference it. However, it is important to note, that JavaScript arrays are zero-indexed, meaning that the first element of an array is actually at the zeroth position, not the first.

In order to retrieve an element from an array we can enclose an index in brackets and append it to the end of an array, or more commonly, to a variable which references an array object. This is known as bracket notation.

For example, if we want to retrieve the "a" from ourArray and assign it to a variable, we can do so with the following code:

let ourVariable = ourArray[0];
// ourVariable equals "a"
In addition to accessing the value associated with an index, you can also set an index to a value using the same notation:

ourArray[1] = "not b anymore";
// ourArray now equals ["a", "not b anymore", "c"];
Using bracket notation, we have now reset the item at index 1 from "b", to "not b anymore".


In order to complete this challenge, set the 2nd position (index 1) of myArray to anything you want, besides "b".

Iterate with JavaScript Do...While Loops

You can run the same code multiple times by using a loop.

The next type of loop you will learn is called a "do...while" loop because it first will "do" one pass of the code inside the loop no matter what, and then it runs "while" a specified condition is true and stops once that condition is no longer true. Let's look at an example.

var ourArray = [];
var i = 0;
do {
  ourArray.push(i);
  i++;
} while (i < 5);
This behaves just as you would expect with any other type of loop, and the resulting array will look like [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]. However, what makes the do...while different from other loops is how it behaves when the condition fails on the first check. Let's see this in action.

Here is a regular while loop that will run the code in the loop as long as i < 5.

var ourArray = [];
var i = 5;
while (i < 5) {
  ourArray.push(i);
  i++;
}
Notice that we initialize the value of i to be 5. When we execute the next line, we notice that i is not less than 5. So we do not execute the code inside the loop. The result is that ourArray will end up with nothing added to it, so it will still look like this [] when all the code in the example above finishes running.

Now, take a look at a do...while loop.

var ourArray = [];
var i = 5;
do {
  ourArray.push(i);
  i++;
} while (i < 5);
In this case, we initialize the value of i as 5, just like we did with the while loop. When we get to the next line, there is no check for the value of i, so we go to the code inside the curly braces and execute it. We will add one element to the array and increment i before we get to the condition check. Then, when we get to checking if i < 5 see that i is now 6, which fails the conditional check. So we exit the loop and are done. At the end of the above example, the value of ourArray is [5].

Essentially, a do...while loop ensures that the code inside the loop will run at least once.

Let's try getting a do...while loop to work by pushing values to an array.


Change the while loop in the code to a do...while loop so that the loop will push the number 10 to myArray, and i will be equal to 11 when your code finishes running.

Selecting from Many Options with Switch Statements

If you have many options to choose from, use a switch statement. A switch statement tests a value and can have many case statements which define various possible values. Statements are executed from the first matched case value until a break is encountered.

Here is a pseudocode example:

switch(num) {
  case value1:
    statement1;
    break;
  case value2:
    statement2;
    break;
...
  case valueN:
    statementN;
    break;
}
case values are tested with strict equality (===). The break tells JavaScript to stop executing statements. If the break is omitted, the next statement will be executed.


Write a switch statement which tests val and sets answer for the following conditions:
1 - "alpha"
2 - "beta"
3 - "gamma"
4 - "delta"

Return an array consisting of the largest number from each provided sub-array. For simplicity, the provided array will contain exactly 4 sub-arrays.

Solution:

Create to variables one for the inner array then a second array using a for loop to the largest value in each.