The spread operator, introduced in ES6 (ECMAScript 2015), is a versatile syntax in JavaScript used to expand elements of an iterable (like an array, string, or object) into individual elements. It's represented by three consecutive dots: ....
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Expanding Arrays:
It allows an array to be expanded into individual elements.
const numbers = [1, 2, 3]; console.log(...numbers); // Output: 1 2 3 // Combining arrays const moreNumbers = [4, 5, 6]; const combined = [...numbers, ...moreNumbers]; console.log(combined); // Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
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Passing Arguments:
It's used to pass elements of an array as arguments to a function.
function addNumbers(a, b, c) { return a + b + c; } const nums = [1, 2, 3]; console.log(addNumbers(...nums)); // Output: 6
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Copying Arrays:
The spread operator creates a shallow copy of an array or object.
const originalArray = [1, 2, 3]; const copiedArray = [...originalArray]; console.log(copiedArray); // Output: [1, 2, 3] // Modifying copiedArray doesn't affect originalArray copiedArray.push(4); console.log(originalArray); // Output: [1, 2, 3] console.log(copiedArray); // Output: [1, 2, 3, 4]
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Expanding Strings:
It can be used to split a string into individual characters.
const str = 'hello'; console.log(...str); // Output: h e l l o
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Object Spread (ES9+):
With object spreading, it's possible to clone objects or merge their properties.
const obj1 = { a: 1, b: 2 }; const obj2 = { c: 3, ...obj1 }; console.log(obj2); // Output: { c: 3, a: 1, b: 2 }
The spread operator simplifies operations involving arrays, strings, and objects by allowing easy extraction, merging, and copying of their elements or properties. It's a powerful feature widely used in modern JavaScript for its flexibility and simplicity.