Arrays are used to store multiple values in a single variable.

Each value is called an element, and each element has a numeric position in the array, known as its index.

Arrays are zero-indexed, meaning the first element is at index 0, the second at index 1, and so on.

Arrays can contain any data type, including numbers, strings, and objects.

const arr1 = [2, 4, 6]; array

arr1[0]; element at index 0 → 2

arr1[1]; element at index 1 → 4

arr1[2]; element at index 2 → 6

arr1[3]; element at index 3 → undefined index not found

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Strings are a sequence of zero or more characters written inside quotes used to represent text.

Strings may consist of letters, numbers, symbols, words, or sentences.

Strings are immutable, they cannot be changed.

Each character in a string has an index.

The first character will be index 0 the second character will be index 1 and so on.

There are two ways to access an individual character in a string.

charAt() method

const str1 = "abc"; string

str1.charAt(0); character at index 0 → "a"

str1.charAt(1); character at index 1 → "b"

str1.charAt(2); character at index 2 → "c"

str1.charAt(3); character at index 3 → "" index not found

Alternatively use at() or slice() methods

bracket notation []

const str2 = "abc"; string

str2[0]; character at index 0 → "a"

str2[1]; character at index 1 → "b"

str2[2]; character at index 2 → "c"

str2[3]; character at index 3 → undefined index not found

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Numbers are used to represent both integer and floating-point values.

Numbers are most commonly expressed in literal forms like 255 or 3.14159 ↴

let num1 = 5; → number

let num2 = 2.5; → number

let num3 = num1 + num2;

console.log(num3); returns ↴

7.5 → number

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Find the symmetric difference between two arrays using ↴

Set Object → collection of unique values.

symmetricDifference() method → returns a new set containing elements which are in either this set or the given set, but not in both.

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Set Object is a collection of unique values.

Each value can only occur once, each value is unique.

const mySet = new Set();

console.log(mySet); returns ↴

Set(0) {size: 0} → empty Set

To add values to the Set we can use the add() method.

mySet.add("a");

mySet.add("b");

mySet.add("c");

console.log(mySet); returns ↴

Set(3) {"a", "b", "c"} → values added

Try to add a duplicate value.

To determine if mySet has an element present we can use the has() method.

mySet.has("a"); → true

mySet.has("d"); → false

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symmetricDifference() method of Set instances takes a Set and returns a new Set containing elements that are in either this Set or the given Set, but not in both.

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spread syntax ... unpacks the elements of an iterable object, like arrays and sets.

Convert an array to a Set.

const arr4 = [1, 2, 3, 4]; array

const setD = new Set(arr4);

console.log(setD); returns ↴

{1, 2, 3, 4} → Set

Use spread syntax to convert a Set to an array.

const arr5 = [...setD];

console.log(arr5); returns ↴

[1, 2, 3, 4] → array

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Initialize the two input arrays to find their symmetric difference.

first array ↴

const array1 = [1, 2, 3, 4]; → user input

second array ↴

const array2 = [3, 4, 5, 6]; → user input

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Define a function findSymmDifference() to find the symmetric difference of two arrays.

The function takes two arrays as input arr1, arr2 and returns a new array with their symmetric difference. The original arrays remain unchanged.

Each input array may contain duplicates. Duplicates will be removed inside the function.

Set constructor is used to create two new Sets from the input arrays arr1, arr2

setA = new Set(arr1) setA

setB = new Set(arr2) setB

Initialize a variable to hold the symmetric difference Set

symmetricDifference() method returns a new Set containing elements that are in either setA, or setB, but not in both.

spread syntax ... converts the setSymmDifference Set to an Array and returns it.

return [...setSymmDifference ] → array

The function returns a new array containing only the unique elements that are present in either one or the other array, but not in both.

If there is no symmetric difference present then an empty array is returned.

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Create a Set from the first array to store unique values.

const setA = new Set(arr1);

Create a Set from the second array to store unique values.

const setB = new Set(arr2);

Calculate the symmetric difference of both sets.

const setSymmDifference = setA.symmetricDifference(setB);

Return the symmetric difference Set as an array.

return [...setSymmDifference ];

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Call the function with ↴

findSymmDifference(array1, array2);

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Find the symmetric difference of two arrays, array1 and array2.

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Alternative to convert a set to an array ↴

const mySet = new Set([1, 2, 3, 4]);

const myArray = Array.from(mySet);

console.log(myArray); returns ↴

[1, 2, 3, 4] → array

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Alternative - return directly without using a variable ↴