Array.prototype.fill()

The fill() method fills all the elements of an array from a start index to an end index with a static value. The end index is not included.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

Syntax

arr.fill(value[, start[, end]])

Parameters

value

Value to fill an array.

start Optional

Start index, defaults to 0.

end Optional

End index, defaults to this.length.

Return value

The modified array.

Description

The fill method takes up to three arguments value, start and end. The start and end arguments are optional with default values of 0 and the length of the this object.

If start is negative, it is treated as length+start where length is the length of the array. If end is negative, it is treated as length+end.

The fill function is intentionally generic, it does not require that its this value be an Array object.

The fill method is a mutable method, it will change this object itself, and return it, not just return a copy of it.

When the fill method gets passed an object, it will copy the reference and fill the array with references to that object.

Examples

[1, 2, 3].fill(4);               // [4, 4, 4]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, 1);            // [1, 4, 4]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, 1, 2);         // [1, 4, 3]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, 1, 1);         // [1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, 3, 3);         // [1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, -3, -2);       // [4, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, NaN, NaN);     // [1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, 3, 5);         // [1, 2, 3]
Array(3).fill(4);                // [4, 4, 4]
[].fill.call({ length: 3 }, 4);  // {0: 4, 1: 4, 2: 4, length: 3}

// Objects by reference.
var arr = Array(3).fill({}) // [{}, {}, {}];
arr[0].hi = "hi"; // [{ hi: "hi" }, { hi: "hi" }, { hi: "hi" }]

Polyfill

if (!Array.prototype.fill) {
  Object.defineProperty(Array.prototype, 'fill', {
    value: function(value) {

      // Steps 1-2.
      if (this == null) {
        throw new TypeError('this is null or not defined');
      }

      var O = Object(this);

      // Steps 3-5.
      var len = O.length >>> 0;

      // Steps 6-7.
      var start = arguments[1];
      var relativeStart = start >> 0;

      // Step 8.
      var k = relativeStart < 0 ?
        Math.max(len + relativeStart, 0) :
        Math.min(relativeStart, len);

      // Steps 9-10.
      var end = arguments[2];
      var relativeEnd = end === undefined ?
        len : end >> 0;

      // Step 11.
      var final = relativeEnd < 0 ?
        Math.max(len + relativeEnd, 0) :
        Math.min(relativeEnd, len);

      // Step 12.
      while (k < final) {
        O[k] = value;
        k++;
      }

      // Step 13.
      return O;
    }
  });
}

If you need to support truly obsolete JavaScript engines that don't support Object.defineProperty, it's best not to polyfill Array.prototype methods at all, as you can't make them non-enumerable.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Array
• TypedArray.prototype.fill()