created by Brian LeRoux & Andrew Lunny. sparodically uncurated by David Trejo.

2013 01 28 array comparison

Did you know that JavaScript can compare arrays using lexicographical ordering?

  [1, 2, 4] < [1, 2, 5]  // true
  [1, 3, 4] < [1, 2, 5]  // false

Just don't expect trichotomy to hold.

  [1, 2, 3] === [1, 2, 3]   // false
  [1, 2, 3] <   [1, 2, 3]   // false
  [1, 2, 3] ==  [1, 2, 3]   // false
  [1, 2, 3] >   [1, 2, 3]   // false

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, it knows it's messing with you.

  [1, 2, 3] <= [1, 2, 3]   // true
  [1, 2, 3] >= [1, 2, 3]   // true

@pwnall


It's hard to understand, but ECMA always helps.

http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.9.3

Paragraph 10 says that "Comparison Algorithm" returns false if paragraphs 1-9 don't satisfy the condition. 9.If Type(x) is Object and Type(y) is either String or Number, return the result of the comparison ToPrimitive(x) == y. 10.Return false.

[] === []; // false
[] == []; // false

//its like
({}) === ({}); // false
({}) == ({}); // false

//BUT
[] == 0; // true

http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.1

The Less-than Operator ( < ) and The Greater-than Operator ( > ) 5.Let r be the result of performing abstract relational comparison lval < rval or lval > rval. 6.If r is undefined, return false. Otherwise, return r.

[] < []; // false
[] > []; // false
// its like 1 < 1 ==> false and 1 > 1 ==> false

http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-11.8.3

5.Let r be the result of performing abstract relational comparison rval < lval with LeftFirst equal to false. 6.If r is true or undefined, return false. Otherwise, return true.

[] <= []; // true
[] >= []; // true
// its like 1 <= 1 ==> true and 1 >= 1 ==> true

kirillov-artur

Fork me on GitHub