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

Here's a simple utility method as a workaround:

Simple mapFor

function mapFor(toExclusive, callback) {
    callback = callback || function(){};
    var arr = [];
    for (var i = 0; i < toExclusive; i++) {
        arr.push(callback(i));
    }
    return arr;
};

var arr = mapFor(3, function(i){ return i; });
console.log(arr); // [0, 1, 2]
arr = mapFor(3);
console.log(arr); // [undefined, undefined, undefined]

Complete Example

Here's a more complete example (with sanity checks) which also allows specifying an optional starting index:

function mapFor() {
var from, toExclusive, callback;
if (arguments.length == 3) {
    from = arguments[0];
    toExclusive = arguments[1];
    callback = arguments[2];
} else if (arguments.length == 2) {
    if (typeof arguments[1] === 'function') {
        from = 0;
        toExclusive = arguments[0];
        callback = arguments[1];
    } else {
        from = arguments[0];
        toExclusive = arguments[1];
    }
} else if (arguments.length == 1) {
    from = 0;
    toExclusive = arguments[0];
}

callback = callback || function () {};

var arr = [];
for (; from < toExclusive; from++) {
    arr.push(callback(from));
}
return arr;
}

var arr = mapFor(1, 3, function (i) { return i; });
console.log(arr); // [1, 2]
arr = mapFor(1, 3);
console.log(arr); // [undefined, undefined]
arr = mapFor(3);
console.log(arr); // [undefined, undefined, undefined]

Counting Down

Manipulating the index passed to the callback allows counting backwards:

var count = 3;
var arr = arrayUtil.mapFor(count, function (i) {
    return count - 1 - i;
});
// arr = [2, 1, 0]