Detecting Arrays (and other subtypes) vs. Objects in JavaScript

Originally published in the A Drip of JavaScript newsletter.

When writing JavaScript, it is often necessary to detect whether a certain variable is an array or an ordinary object so that you can perform a different set of actions. For instance, consider a function that can be called with an object representing a marathon, or an array of objects representing multiple marathons:

function getListOfMarathonNames (marathons) {
    if (marathons instanceof Object) {
        // Return an array containing the name of the only
        // marathon given.
        return [marathons.name];
    } else if (marathons instanceof Array) {
        // Return an array containing all marathon names.
        return marathons.map(function(race) {
            return race.name;
        });
    }
}

At a glance, this seems like perfectly reasonable code. Unfortunately, it is hiding a major bug. Let's test it out to see how it behaves.

var londonMarathon = {
    name: "London Marathon",
    date: "April 13, 2014"
};

console.log(getListOfMarathonNames(londonMarathon));
// -> ["London Marathon"]

So far so good.

var moreMarathons = [
    {
        name: "New York City Marathon",
        date: "November 2, 2014"
    },
    {
        name: "Chicago Marathon",
        date: "October 12, 2014"
    }
];

console.log(getListOfMarathonNames(moreMarathons));
// -> [undefined]

What's going on here? The problem is that our function's array detection logic is reversed. Because in JavaScript arrays are just a special type of object, it is impossible for our else if to ever be triggered. And since the array we passed in doesn't have a name property, we end up returning an array containing only an undefined element.

In order to correct this logic we need to work in the other direction, first checking whether the input is of the Array subtype before proceeding to check whether it is part of the broader Object type.

function getListOfMarathonNames (marathons) {
    if (marathons instanceof Array) {
        // Return an array containing all marathon names.
        return marathons.map(function(race) {
            return race.name;
        });
    } else if (marathons instanceof Object) {
        // Return an array containing the name of the only
        // marathon given.
        return [marathons.name];
    }
}

console.log(getListOfMarathonNames(londonMarathon));
// -> ["London Marathon"]

console.log(getListOfMarathonNames(moreMarathons));
// -> ["New York City Marathon", "Chicago Marathon"]

And now we have everything working as it should.

Of course, this type of error can also occur when trying to detect other types of objects as well, like Date, RegExp, etc. The general rule is to check for the subtype first, only handling Object afterwards.

It's also worth noting that this isn't a comprehensive test for whether something is an array. While it will work in most cases, if you are working with iframes or objects from another "domain," instanceof isn't all that useful, and you'll probably want to use a utility library to handle the checking for you.

Thanks for reading!

Josh Clanton

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