Insert an Element in Specific Index in JavaScript Array

We have some in-built methods to add at elements at the beginning and end of the array.

push(value) → Add an element to the end of the array.

unshift(value) → Add an element to the beginning of an array.

To add an element to the specific index there is no method available in Array object. But we can use already available splice method in Array object to achieve this.

An array starts from index 0 ,So if we want to add an element as first element of the array , then the index of the element is 0 .If we want to add an element to nth position , then the index is (n-1) th index.

"The splice() method changes the contents of an array by removing or replacing existing elements and/or adding new elements, in the original array(which means the source array is modified)" - MDN

splice() method takes three arguments:

1. start: The index at which to start changing the array.
2. deleteCount(optional): An integer indicating the number of elements in the array to remove from start.
3. (elem1, elem2 ...): The elements to add to the array, beginning from start. If you do not specify any elements, splice() will only remove elements from the array.

In order to insert an element to the specific index , we need to provide arguments as:

1. start → index: where to insert the element
2. deleteCount → 0: because we don't need to delete element
3. elem: elements to insert

Let's write the function

function insertAt(array, index, ...elementsArray) {
  array.splice(index, 0, ...elements);
}

Now let's call the function:

var num = [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8];

// insertAt() arguments
// 1.  source array - num
// 2.  index to insert - 3
// 3.  remaining are elements to insert

insertAt(num, 3, 4, 5); // [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

Let's try changing the index:

var num = [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8];
insertAt(numbers, 2, 4, 5); // [1,2,4,5,3,6,7,8]

Thank you for reading. I hope you have found this useful.