Remove duplicates form an array

Question

I have an array of objects that looks like this:

var array = [
    {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
    {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
    {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
    {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
    ...
];

As you can see, some names are repeated. I want to get a new array with names only, but if some name repeats I don't want to add it again. I want this array:

var newArray = ["Name1", "Name2"];

I'm trying to do this with map:

var newArray = array.map((a) => {
    return a.name;
});

But the problem is that this returns:

newArray = ["Name1", "Name1", "Name2", "Name2"];

How can I set some condition inside map, so it won't return an element that already exists? I want to do this with map or some other ECMAScript 5 or ECMAScript 6 feature.

Answer 1

With ES6, you could use Set for unique values, after mapping only the names of the objects.

This proposal uses a spread syntax ... for collecting the items in a new array.

const array = [{ id: 123, value: "value1", name:"Name1" }, { id: 124, value: "value2", name: "Name1" }, { id: 125, value: "value3", name: "Name2" }, { id: 126, value: "value4", name: "Name2" }],
      names = [...new Set(array.map(a => a.name))];

console.log(names);

Answer 2

If you are looking for a JavaScript solution that is not ES 6 (no Set) you can use the Array's reduce method:

var array=[
  {id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
  {id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
  {id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
  {id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
];
var names = array.reduce(function (a, b) {
  if (a.indexOf(b.name) == -1) {
    a.push(b.name)
  }
  return a;
}, []);

console.log(names);

Answer 3

Personally I don't see why everyone is getting all fancy with ES 6. If it were my code I'd prefer to support as many browsers as possible.

var array=[
{id:123, value:"value1", name:"Name1"},
{id:124, value:"value2", name:"Name1"},
{id:125, value:"value3", name:"Name2"},
{id:126, value:"value4", name:"Name2"}
];

   // Create array of unique names
var a = (function(a){
  for (var i = array.length; i--;)
    if (a.indexOf(array[i].name) < 0) a.push(array[i].name);
  return a;
})([]);

console.log(a);