Question

Lets say I have a string of fruit names

var string = "cherries,oranges,limes"

and an array of red fruit

var array = ["tomatoes", "cherries", "raspberries"]

in javascript if I want to find if the string has any red fruit, I can do

for(var i=0; i<array.length; i+=1){
    if(string.search(array[i])!=-1){
        return string.search(array[i]);

}

How would this compare with the following?

var string_array= string.split(','); 
for(var i=0; i<array.length; i+=1){
    for(var j=0; j<string_array.length; j+=1){
       if(string_array[j]==array[i]){
       return string_array[j];
       }
}
}
return -1;

Answer 1

This can’t work ;

for(var i=0; i<array.length; i+=1){
   return string.search(array[i]);
}

You’re returning at your first iteration.

So, this wouldn’t compare very well.

BTW, if you’re interested in script performance comparisons, I suggest you to try using jsperf.