JavaScript - remove specific array item by value or reference

In this short article, we would like to show how to remove an item by value or reference from an array in JavaScript.

Quick solution:

const itemIndex = array.indexOf(itemValue);  // finds item index

if (itemIndex !== -1) {
	array.splice(itemIndex, 1);  // removes found item
}

Practical example

In this section, you can find 2 cases for array items removing: by value and by reference.

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

const removeItem = (array, item) => {
    const index = array.indexOf(item);
    if (index !== -1) {
        array.splice(index, 1);
        return true;
    }
    return false;
};


// Usage example 1 (by values):

//    index:     0    1    2    3
const array1 = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'];

removeItem(array1, 'c');               // removes 'c' item that has index 2
console.log(JSON.stringify(array1));   // ['a','b','d']


// Usage example 2 (by references):

const john = {name: 'John', age: 25};  // index 0
const kate = {name: 'Kate', age: 23};  // index 1
const matt = {name: 'Matt', age: 17};  // index 2
const ann  = {name: 'Ann',  age: 19};  // index 3

const array2 = [john, kate, matt, ann];

removeItem(array2, matt);              // removes Matt item that has index 2
console.log(JSON.stringify(array2));   // [{name:'John',age:25},{name:'Kate',age:23},{name:'Ann',age:19}]

References

1. JavaScript - remove specific array item by index