345

I need to find arrays where all values are equal. What's the fastest way to do this? Should I loop through it and just compare values?

['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'] // true
['a', 'a', 'b', 'a'] // false
12
  • 1
    @T.J.Crowder I bet you are already thinking about the best solution ;) Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 12:31
  • 4
    @T.J.Crowder: Not to mention the willingness of askers to actually accept answers. Users with 1 rep often seem to be ask & run types that leave as soon as they have a copy-paste-able answer, lately. Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 12:39
  • 1
    Something around this approach should work ? a.join(',').split(a[0]).length === a.length + 1 Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 12:42
  • 2
    @TomášZato: "OP" means "original poster" (the person asking the question). Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 14:38
  • 2
    Possible duplicate of Check if each item in an array is identical in javascript Commented Feb 14, 2017 at 4:32

33 Answers 33

568
const allEqual = arr => arr.every( v => v === arr[0] )
allEqual( [1,1,1,1] )  // true

Or one-liner:

[1,1,1,1].every( (val, i, arr) => val === arr[0] )   // true

Array.prototype.every (from MDN) : The every() method tests whether all elements in the array pass the test implemented by the provided function.

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

12 Comments

Brevity is the soul of wit
const everythings_equal = array => array.every(thing => thing === array[0]);
@Jan every does early return as well.
Note: This solution will return true if the array is empty, too!
@MaximZubarev well, all elements are equal in that case.
|
116

Edit: Be a Red ninja:

!!array.reduce(function(a, b){ return (a === b) ? a : NaN; });

Results:

var array = ["a", "a", "a"] => result: "true"
var array = ["a", "b", "a"] => result: "false"
var array = ["false", ""] => result: "false"
var array = ["false", false] => result: "false"
var array = ["false", "false"] => result: "true"
var array = [NaN, NaN] => result: "false" 

Warning:

var array = [] => result: TypeError thrown

This is because we do not pass an initialValue. So, you may wish to check array.length first.

14 Comments

might be a bit late to the party... i think this doesn't work if your array is made of falses! for example try [false, false, false].reduce(function(a, b){return (a === b)?a:false;});
@Martin: ["false", ""] returns true :/
This can be taken up a notch by using NaN. Since both NaN === NaN and NaN !== NaN are false, it guarantees that once the prev is set to NaN then no value can take it out. Also adding in a double negation converts the results to true and false, since NaN is falsy. Final form: !!array.reduce(function(a, b){ return (a === b) ? a : NaN; });
DOWNVOTED. What if the elements are equal but falsy?
I downvoted because this doesn't work with booleans values.
|
78

You can turn the Array into a Set. If the size of the Set is equal to 1, then all elements of the Array are equal.

function allEqual(arr) {
  return new Set(arr).size == 1;
}

allEqual(['a', 'a', 'a', 'a']); // true
allEqual(['a', 'a', 'b', 'a']); // false

5 Comments

Brilliant. Just note that allEqual([NaN, NaN]) gives true in this case.
^ because both NaN === NaN and NaN == NaN evaluate to false
should use === for a strict comparison
This solution feels "pythonic", cheers!
You need to know, that this answer is much more slower than accepted (about 75% slower on Apple M1, Chrome 109). So you shouldn't use this variant with big arrays.
64

This works. You create a method on Array by using prototype.

if (Array.prototype.allValuesSame === undefined) {
  Array.prototype.allValuesSame = function() {
    for (let i = 1; i < this.length; i++) {
      if (this[i] !== this[0]) {
        return false;
      }
    }
    return true;
  }
}

Call this in this way:

let a = ['a', 'a', 'a'];
let b = a.allValuesSame(); // true
a = ['a', 'b', 'a'];
b = a.allValuesSame();     // false

8 Comments

very nice, but beware: IE does not support this way of assigning prototypes. I use it anyway.
@TomášZato: IE supports augmenting the Array.prototype just fine (even IE6). It's only DOM element prototypes that some older versions of IE don't support augmenting.
I don't think it's a good idea to be monkey patching built-in prototypes. If multiple libraries do it, it can lead to unexpected behavior that's very difficult to debug.
@MarkWilbur +1 especially if you do a for..in loop on next arrays, you'll get allValuesSame in the loop
I went ahead and modernized this, without altering the intent.
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33

In JavaScript 1.6, you can use Array.every:

function AllTheSame(array) {
    var first = array[0];
    return array.every(function(element) {
        return element === first;
    });
}

You probably need some sanity checks, e.g. when the array has no elements. (Also, this won't work when all elements are NaN since NaN !== NaN, but that shouldn't be an issue... right?)

Comments

17

And for performance comparison I also did a benchmark:

function allAreEqual(array){
    if(!array.length) return true;
    // I also made sure it works with [false, false] array
    return array.reduce(function(a, b){return (a === b)?a:(!b);}) === array[0];
}
function same(a) {
    if (!a.length) return true;
    return !a.filter(function (e) {
        return e !== a[0];
    }).length;
}

function allTheSame(array) {
    var first = array[0];
    return array.every(function(element) {
        return element === first;
    });
}

function useSome(array){
    return !array.some(function(value, index, array){
        return value !== array[0];
    });
}

Results:

allAreEqual x 47,565 ops/sec ±0.16% (100 runs sampled)
same x 42,529 ops/sec ±1.74% (92 runs sampled)
allTheSame x 66,437 ops/sec ±0.45% (102 runs sampled)
useSome x 70,102 ops/sec ±0.27% (100 runs sampled)

So apparently using builtin array.some() is the fastest method of the ones sampled.

4 Comments

Good idea to check what's more performant here. The reason why Array#some is going to sometimes outperform is that once the callback function returns true, it stops iterating. So, if all the elements are in fact equal, the performance should be identical to Array#every. And the relative performance when all elements are not equal will vary based on the index of the first non-matching element.
Nice one. You could have named each with the function used lol. E.g.: reduce, filter, every, some
where s the native for loop, I bet that outperforms all of these by a factor of 5
@Martin - where do you usually run performance checks?
16

update 2022 version: use Set()

     let a = ['a', 'a', 'b', 'a'];
     let b = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'];
     const check = (list) => {
        const setItem = new Set(list);
        return setItem.size <= 1;
     }

     const checkShort = (list) => (new Set(list)).size <= 1        
     
      check(a); // false;
      check(b); // true;
      checkShort(a); // false
      checkShort(b); // true

Update new solution: check index

 let a = ['a', 'a', 'b', 'a'];
 let b = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'];
 let check = (list) => list.every(item => list.indexOf(item) === 0);
 check(a); // false;
 check(b); // true;
   

Updated with ES6: Use list.every is the fastest way:

 let a = ['a', 'a', 'b', 'a'];
 let check = (list) => list.every(item => item === list[0]);
   

old version:

      var listTrue = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'];
      var listFalse = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'ab'];

      function areWeTheSame(list) { 
         var sample = list[0];
         return (list.every((item) => item === sample));
      }

2 Comments

using every is the best solution. i especially like it because it'll stop the iteration as soon as it finds a falsy value (according to the MDN docs: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/…)
How to use it for 2D arrays?
10

If you're already using underscore.js, then here's another option using _.uniq:

function allEqual(arr) {
    return _.uniq(arr).length === 1;
}

_.uniq returns a duplicate-free version of the array. If all the values are the same, then the length will be 1.

As mentioned in the comments, given that you may expect an empty array to return true, then you should also check for that case:

function allEqual(arr) {
    return arr.length === 0 || _.uniq(arr).length === 1;
}

2 Comments

But if array is empty, your answer will return false. While I think it should be true. Changing to .length <= 1 shall be enough though.
@Kasztan that's a fair point. I've updated my answer to cover that case.
10

Shortest answer using underscore/lodash

function elementsEqual(arr) {
    return !_.without(arr, arr[0]).length
}

spec:

elementsEqual(null) // throws error
elementsEqual([]) // true
elementsEqual({}) // true
elementsEqual([1]) // true
elementsEqual([1,2]) // false
elementsEqual(NaN) // true

edit:

Or even shorter, inspired by Tom's answer:

function elementsEqual2(arr) {
    return _.uniq(arr).length <= 1;
}

spec:

elementsEqual2(null) // true (beware, it's different than above)
elementsEqual2([]) // true
elementsEqual2({}) // true
elementsEqual2([1]) // true
elementsEqual2([1,2]) // false
elementsEqual2(NaN) // true

Comments

9

every() function check if all elements of an array

    const checkArr = a => a.every( val => val === a[0] )
    checkArr(['a','a','a'])  // true 
     

Comments

7

You can use Array.every if supported:

var equals = array.every(function(value, index, array){
    return value === array[0];
});

Alternatives approach of a loop could be something like sort

var temp = array.slice(0).sort();
var equals = temp[0] === temp[temp.length - 1];

Or, if the items are like the question, something dirty like:

var equals = array.join('').split(array[0]).join('').length === 0;

Also works.

2 Comments

You have the first example backwards. Should be equals = !array.some( (v,i,a) => v!==a[0] ). Otherwise you're just checking that any value equals the first which will, of course, always be true :)
Not exactly, I used some instead of every as I mentioned in the first paragraph. :) Thanks for the catch!
6

Yes, you can check it also using filter as below, very simple, checking every values are the same as the first one:

//ES6
function sameValues(arr) {
  return arr.filter((v,i,a)=>v===a[0]).length === arr.length;
} 

also can be done using every method on the array:

//ES6
function sameValues(arr) {
  return arr.every((v,i,a)=>v===a[0]);
} 

and you can check your arrays like below:

sameValues(['a', 'a', 'a', 'a']); // true
sameValues(['a', 'a', 'b', 'a']); // false

Or you can add it to native Array functionalities in JavaScript if you reuse it a lot:

//ES6
Array.prototype.sameValues = Array.prototype.sameValues || function(){
 this.every((v,i,a)=>v===a[0]);
}

and you can check your arrays like below:

['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'].sameValues(); // true
['a', 'a', 'b', 'a'].sameValues(); // false

Comments

6

Now you can make use of sets to do that easily.

let a= ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a']; // true
let b =['a', 'a', 'b', 'a'];// false

console.log(new Set(a).size === 1);
console.log(new Set(b).size === 1);

Comments

5

You can get this one-liner to do what you want using Array.prototype.every, Object.is, and ES6 arrow functions:

const all = arr => arr.every(x => Object.is(arr[0], x));

1 Comment

Please, describe the solution you're proposing.
4

I think the simplest way to do this is to create a loop to compare the each value to the next. As long as there is a break in the "chain" then it would return false. If the first is equal to the second, the second equal to the third and so on, then we can conclude that all elements of the array are equal to each other.

given an array data[], then you can use:

for(x=0;x<data.length - 1;x++){
    if (data[x] != data[x+1]){
        isEqual = false;            
    }
}
alert("All elements are equal is " + isEqual);

Comments

3

You can convert array to a Set and check its size

In case of primitive array entries, i.e. number, string:

const isArrayWithEqualEntries = array => new Set(array).size === 1

In case of array of objects with some field to be tested for equivalence, say id:

const mapper = ({id}) => id
const isArrayWithEqualEntries = array => new Set(array.map(mapper)).size === 1

Comments

2

You can use this:

function same(a) {
    if (!a.length) return true;
    return !a.filter(function (e) {
        return e !== a[0];
    }).length;
}

The function first checks whether the array is empty. If it is it's values are equals.. Otherwise it filter the array and takes all elements which are different from the first one. If there are no such values => the array contains only equal elements otherwise it doesn't.

Comments

2
arr.length && arr.reduce(function(a, b){return (a === b)?a:false;}) === arr[0];

1 Comment

Fails if the first item is false, i.e. [false,true] => true
2

Its Simple. Create a function and pass a parameter. In that function copy the first index into a new variable. Then Create a for loop and loop through the array. Inside a loop create an while loop with a condition checking whether the new created variable is equal to all the elements in the loop. if its equal return true after the for loop completes else return false inside the while loop.

function isUniform(arra){
    var k=arra[0];
    for (var i = 0; i < arra.length; i++) {
        while(k!==arra[i]){
            return false;
        }
    }
    return true;
}

Comments

2

The accepted answer worked great but I wanted to add a tiny bit. It didn't work for me to use === because I was comparing arrays of arrays of objects, however throughout my app I've been using the fast-deep-equal package which I highly recommend. With that, my code looks like this:

let areAllEqual = arrs.every((val, i, arr) => equal(val, arr[0]) );

and my data looks like this:

[  
  [
    {
      "ID": 28,
      "AuthorID": 121,
      "VisitTypeID": 2
    },
    {
      "ID": 115,
      "AuthorID": 121,
      "VisitTypeID": 1
    },
    {
      "ID": 121,
      "AuthorID": 121,
      "VisitTypeID": 1
    }
  ],
  [
    {
      "ID": 121,
      "AuthorID": 121,
      "VisitTypeID": 1
    }
  ],
  [
    {
      "ID": 5,
      "AuthorID": 121,
      "VisitTypeID": 1
    },
    {
      "ID": 121,
      "AuthorID": 121,
      "VisitTypeID": 1
    }
  ]
]

Comments

2

You could use a for loop:

function isEqual(arr) {
  var first = arr[0];
  for (let i = 1; i < arr.length; i++) {
    if (first !== arr[i]) {
      return false;
    }
  }
  return true;
}

Comments

1

Underscore's _.isEqual(object, other) function seems to work well for arrays. The order of items in the array matter when it checks for equality. See http://underscorejs.org/#isEqual.

Comments

1
var listTrue = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'];
var listFalse = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'ab'];

function areWeTheSame(list) { 
    var sample = list[0];
    return !(list.some(function(item) {
        return !(item == sample);
    }));
}

1 Comment

Please also explain what you did instead of just pasting some code.
1
function isUniform(array) {   
  for (var i=1; i< array.length; i++) {
    if (array[i] !== array[0]) { return false; }
  }

  for (var i=1; i< array.length; i++) {
    if (array[i] === array[0]) { return true; }
  }
}
  • For the first loop; whenever it detects uneven, returns "false"
  • The first loop runs, and if it returns false, we have "false"
  • When it's not return false, it means there will be true, so we do the second loop. And of course we will have "true" from the second loop (because the first loop found it's NOT false)

Comments

1
  1. Create a string by joining the array.
  2. Create string by repetition of the first character of the given array
  3. match both strings

	function checkArray(array){
		return array.join("") == array[0].repeat(array.length);	
	}

	console.log('array: [a,a,a,a]: ' + checkArray(['a', 'a', 'a', 'a']));
	console.log('array: [a,a,b,a]: ' + checkArray(['a', 'a', 'b', 'a']));

And you are DONE !

1 Comment

I use this to compare whether two arrays have the same elements in the same order and it works great.
0

Another interesting way when you use ES6 arrow function syntax:

x = ['a', 'a', 'a', 'a']
!x.filter(e=>e!==x[0])[0]  // true

x = ['a', 'a', 'b', 'a']
!x.filter(e=>e!==x[0])[0] // false

x = []
!x.filter(e=>e!==x[0])[0]  // true

And when you don't want to reuse the variable for array (x):

!['a', 'a', 'a', 'a'].filter((e,i,a)=>e!==a[0])[0]    // true

IMO previous poster who used array.every(...) has the cleanest solution.

Comments

0

this might work , you can use the comment out code as well that also woks well with the given scenerio.

function isUniform(){
	var arrayToMatch = [1,1,1,1,1];
	var temp = arrayToMatch[0];
	console.log(temp);
  /* return arrayToMatch.every(function(check){
    return check == temp;
   });*/
var bool;
   arrayToMatch.forEach(function(check){
    bool=(check == temp);
   })
  console.log(bool);
}
isUniform();

Comments

0

Use index of operator for every item of array to check if it exists or not. If even one item returns -1 (doesn't exist then it will be false)

const arr1 = [1, 3, 5];
const arr2 = [5, 7, 9];
const arr3 = [1, 3, 5];

arr1.every(item => arr2.indexOf(item) != -1)
// this will return false

arr1.every(item => arr3.indexOf(item) != -1)
// this will return true

Comments

-1

Simple one line solution, just compare it to an array filled with the first entry.

if(arr.join('') === Array(arr.length).fill(arr[0]).join(''))

2 Comments

That doesn't seem like a solution that can be used anywhere
It's pretty close to ok. Better would be something like: function arrayOfSame(arr) { return (arr.join('') == (new Array(arr.length+1).join(arr[0]))); }
-1
**// Logical Solution:- Declare global array and one variable(To check the condition) whether all element of an array contains same value or not.**

    var arr =[];
    var isMatching = false;

    for(var i=0;i<arr.length;i++){
            if(String(arr[i]).toLowerCase()== "Your string to check"){
                isMatching=true;
                // Array has same value in all index of an array
            }
            else{
                isMatching=false;
                // Array Doesn't has same value in all index of an array
                break;
            }
        }
    // **Check isMatching variable is true or false**

        if(isMatching){ // True
            //If Array has same value in all index, then this block will get executed
        }
        else{ //False
            //If Array doesn't has same value in all index, then this block will get executed
        }

Comments

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