Question

Can anybody tell me why the loop did not stop after the 5 entry?

http://jsbin.com/ucuqot/edit#preview

---

$(document).ready(function()
{
  someArray = new Array();
  someArray[0] = 't5';
  someArray[1] = 'z12';
  someArray[2] = 'b88';
  someArray[3] = 's55';
  someArray[4] = 'e51';
  someArray[5] = 'o322';
  someArray[6] = 'i22';
  someArray[7] = 'k954';  

  var test =  findXX('o322');   

});

function findXX(word)
{  
  $.each(someArray, function(i)
  {
    $('body').append('-> '+i+'<br />');
    if(someArray[i] == 'someArray')
    {
      return someArray[i]; //<--- did not stop the loop!
    }   
  });  
}

Answer 1

Because when you use a return statement inside an each loop, a “non-false” value will act as a continue, whereas false will act as a break. You will need to return false from the each function. Something like this:

function findXX(word) {
    var toReturn; 
    $.each(someArray, function(i) {
        $('body').append('-> '+i+'<br />');
        if(someArray[i] == word) {
            toReturn = someArray[i];
            return false;
        }   
    }); 
    return toReturn; 
}

From the docs:

We can break the $.each() loop at a particular iteration by making the
callback function return false. Returning non-false is the same as a
continue statement in a for loop; it will skip immediately to the next
iteration.