How To Get the Second Last Element Of an Array In Javascript

To get the second last element of an array in JavaScript, you can use the following code snippet:

const array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
const secondLastElement = array[array.length - 2];
console.log(secondLastElement);

In JavaScript, accessing the second last element of an array is a common task that developers encounter. This article provides a comprehensive guide on how to achieve this efficiently. By following the step-by-step guidelines and examples provided below, you will learn different methods to retrieve the second last element from an array in JavaScript.

Method 1: Using Array Length

One straightforward approach to get the second last element of an array is by using the array’s length property. Here’s how you can do it:

const array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
const secondLastElement = array[array.length - 2];
console.log(secondLastElement); // Output: 4

In this code snippet, we subtract 2 from the length of the array to access the second last element.

Method 2: Using Slice Method

Another method involves using the slice method to extract the second last element from the array:

const array = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50];
const secondLastElement = array.slice(-2, -1)[0];
console.log(secondLastElement); // Output: 40

Here, we use negative indices with the slice method to extract the second last element efficiently.

Method 3: With Destructuring Assignment

Destructuring assignment in JavaScript provides a concise way to access array elements. Here’s how you can use it to get the second last element:

const arr = [100, 200, 300, 400, 500];
const [, secondLast] = arr.reverse();
console.log(secondLast); // Output: 400

By reversing the array and destructuring the assignment, we obtain the second last element easily.

Method 4: Using Pop Method

The pop method can also be utilized to retrieve the second last element from an array:

const arr = [6, 7, 8, 9, 10];
arr.pop();
const secondLastElement = arr.pop();
console.log(secondLastElement); // Output: 8

By popping elements from the array twice, we access the second last element effectively.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this article has presented various methods to get the second last element of an array in JavaScript. By following the step-by-step guidelines and exploring different coding examples provided above, you can enhance your understanding of array manipulation in JavaScript.