How to get value at a specific index of array In JavaScript?

Question

I have an array and simply want to get the element at index 1.

var myValues = new Array();
var valueAtIndex1 = myValues.getValue(1); // (something like this)

How can I get the value at the 1st index of my array in JavaScript?

Answer 1

You can access an element at a specific index using the bracket notation accessor.

var valueAtIndex1 = myValues[1];

On newer browsers/JavaScript engines (see browser compatibility here), you can also use the .at() method on arrays.

var valueAtIndex1 = myValues.at(1);

On positive indexes, both methods work the same (the first one being more common). Array.prototype.at() however allows you to access elements starting from the end of the array by passing a negative number. Passing -1 will give the last element of the array, passing -2 the second last, etc.

See more details at the MDN documentation.

• Tho.Tra: This returns the element at the second index not at the "1st" as specified in the question.
• nCardot: The question says "get the element at index 1". Index 1 is the second element in the array.
• nCardot: I don't think indexer is an official term.. correct me if I'm wrong

Answer 2

Array indexes in JavaScript start at zero for the first item, so try this:

var firstArrayItem = myValues[0]

Of course, if you actually want the second item in the array at index 1, then it's myValues[1].

See Accessing array elements for more info.

Answer 3

You can just use []:

var valueAtIndex1 = myValues[1];

Answer 4

indexer (array[index]) is the most frequent use. An alternative is at array method:

const cart = ['apple', 'banana', 'pear'];
cart.at(0) // 'apple'
cart.at(2) // 'pear'

If you come from another programming language, maybe it looks more familiar.

• nCardot: Looks like the at method is very new/currently a proposal. It works in Chrome DevTools but not Edabit. github.com/tc39/proposal-relative-indexing-method

Answer 5

Update 2022

With ES2022 you can use Array.prototype.at():

const myValues = [1, 2, 3]
myValues.at(1) // 2

at() also supports negative index, which returns an element from the end of the array:

const myValues = [1, 2, 3]
myValues.at(-1) // 3
myValues.at(-2) // 2

Read more: MDN, JavascriptTutorial, Specifications

Answer 6

shift can be used in places where you want to get the first element (index=0) of an array and chain with other array methods.

example:

const comps = [{}, {}, {}]
const specComp = comps
 .map(fn1)
 .filter(fn2)
 .shift()

Remember shift mutates the array, which is very different from accessing via an indexer.

Answer 7

As you specifically want to get the element at index 1. You can also achieve this by using Array destructuring from ES6.

const arr = [1, 2, 3, 4];
const [zeroIndex, firstIndex, ...remaining] = arr;
console.log(firstIndex); // 2

Or, As per ES2022. You can also use Array.at()

const arr = [1, 2, 3, 4];
console.log(arr.at(1)); // 2

Answer 8

• your_array[0]
• your_array?.[0] (with NPE check)