Array.prototype.unique = function() {
var matches = [];
for (var i=0, l=this.length; i<l; i++) {
if (matches.indexOf(this[i]) === -1) {
matches.push(this[i]);
}
}
return matches;
};

Array.prototype.unique = function() {
var matches = [];
for (var i=0, l=this.length; i

The unique method came out of a discussion with Christian Heilmann on his blog (Wait till I come). I cannot find the exact reference, so I am not sure if the article is still up.

Anyway, you are correct that unique doesn’t handle a collection of like objects well… this would fail miserably on an array of JSON objects.

However, it works really well on arrays of simple data. If you know of a better method, I am always open to improving code, but I am looking for simple, readable/reliable, and fast code.

What’s the reason for making Array.prototype.unique rely on function decomposition? This makes any non-primitive value in an array disregarded as non-unique. This doesn’t seem wise.

[{foo: true}, {foo: false}].unique(); // [{foo: true}]