JavaScript “new Array(n)” and “Array.prototype.map” weirdness

Question

I\'ve observed this in Firefox-3.5.7/Firebug-1.5.3 and Firefox-3.6.16/Firebug-1.6.2

When I fire up Firebug:

Answer 1

Not a bug. That's how the Array constructor is defined to work.

From MDC:

When you specify a single numeric parameter with the Array constructor, you specify the initial length of the array. The following code creates an array of five elements:

var billingMethod = new Array(5);

The behavior of the Array constructor depends on whether the single parameter is a number.

The .map() method only includes in the iteration elements of the array that have explicitly had values assigned. Even an explicit assignment of undefined will cause a value to be considered eligible for inclusion in the iteration. That seems odd, but it's essentially the difference between an explicit undefined property on an object and a missing property:

var x = { }, y = { z: undefined };
if (x.z === y.z) // true

The object x does not have a property called "z", and the object y does. However, in both cases it appears that the "value" of the property is undefined. In an array, the situation is similar: the value of length does implicitly perform a value assignment to all the elements from zero through length - 1. The .map() function therefore won't do anything (won't call the callback) when called on an array newly constructed with the Array constructor and a numeric argument.