Is this the only way to check whether two arrays are identical?

Curriculum Help JavaScript
#1

I am doing this freecodecamp quest where I need to confirm the ending of a string.
https://learn.freecodecamp.org/javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/basic-algorithm-scripting/confirm-the-ending/

And here is my code.

function a(str,target){
  /*get rid of the whitespaces*/
  let replaced = str.replace(/ /g,'');
  console.log(replaced);
  /*convert string into array*/
  let array = replaced.split("");
  console.log(array);
  /*reverse it*/
  let reversed = array.reverse();
  console.log(reversed);
  /* new array */
  let new_array = reversed.slice(0,target.length);
  console.log(new_array);
  /*new target*/
  let new_target = target.split("").reverse();
  console.log(new_target);

  if(new_array===new_target){
    return true;
  }
  else{
  	return false;
  }
}
console.log(a("hello world","world"));

Then I realised that === does not work on arrays.
I checked stackoverflow how to see whether two arrays are identical, here is the answer:

// Warn if overriding existing method
if(Array.prototype.equals)
    console.warn("Overriding existing Array.prototype.equals. Possible causes: New API defines the method, there's a framework conflict or you've got double inclusions in your code.");
// attach the .equals method to Array's prototype to call it on any array
Array.prototype.equals = function (array) {
    // if the other array is a falsy value, return
    if (!array)
        return false;

    // compare lengths - can save a lot of time 
    if (this.length != array.length)
        return false;

    for (var i = 0, l=this.length; i < l; i++) {
        // Check if we have nested arrays
        if (this[i] instanceof Array && array[i] instanceof Array) {
            // recurse into the nested arrays
            if (!this[i].equals(array[i]))
                return false;       
        }           
        else if (this[i] != array[i]) { 
            // Warning - two different object instances will never be equal: {x:20} != {x:20}
            return false;   
        }           
    }       
    return true;
}
// Hide method from for-in loops
Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype, "equals", {enumerable: false});

Is this the only way to do this? It seems really complicated.
Or I should just compare string to string.

#2

The only way to check equality of the contents of two arrays is to iterate through them and check the values that they contain. Since your arrays represent strings, the simplest way to check them is to convert them back into strings and compare those strings.

1 Like
#3

yeah, did a simple change.
works like a charm now.
is there any simpler solution to this???

function confirmEnding(str, target) {
  /*get rid of the whitespaces*/
  let replaced = str.replace(/ /g,'');

  /*convert string into array*/
  let array = replaced.split("");

  /*reverse it*/
  let reversed = array.reverse();

  /* new string */
  let new_string = reversed.slice(0,target.length).join("");

  /*new target*/
  let new_target = target.split("").reverse().join("");


  if(new_string===new_target){
    return true;
  }
  else{
    return false;
  }
}

confirmEnding("Bastian", "n");
#4

Click the Get a Hint button located on the challenge to compare your solution to others.