Rotate the elements in an array in JavaScript

javascript arrays rotation
Jean Vincent picture Jean Vincent · Dec 31, 2009 · Viewed 83.4k times · Source

I was wondering what was the most efficient way to rotate a JavaScript array.

I came up with this solution, where a positive n rotates the array to the right, and a negative n to the left (-length < n < length) :

Array.prototype.rotateRight = function( n ) {
  this.unshift( this.splice( n, this.length ) );
}

Which can then be used this way:

var months = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"];
months.rotate( new Date().getMonth() );

My original version above has a flaw, as pointed out by Christoph in the comments bellow, a correct version is (the additional return allows chaining):

Array.prototype.rotateRight = function( n ) {
  this.unshift.apply( this, this.splice( n, this.length ) );
  return this;
}

Is there a more compact and/or faster solution, possibly in the context of a JavaScript framework? (none of the proposed versions bellow is either more compact or faster)

Is there any JavaScript framework out there with an array rotate built-in? (Still not answered by anyone)

Answer

Yukul&#233;l&#233; picture Yukulélé · Apr 29, 2014

You can use push(), pop(), shift() and unshift() methods:

function arrayRotate(arr, reverse) {
  if (reverse) arr.unshift(arr.pop());
  else arr.push(arr.shift());
  return arr;
}

usage:

arrayRotate(['h','e','l','l','o']);       // ['e','l','l','o','h'];
arrayRotate(['h','e','l','l','o'], true); // ['o','h','e','l','l'];

If you need count argument see my other answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/33451102 🖤🧡💚💙💜

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