# Underscore.js
- writer: lnico.ApiWriter
- canonical: http://underscorejs.org/
- version: 1.4.3
---------------
[Underscore](http://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/) is a utility-belt library for JavaScript that provides a lot of the functional programming support that you would expect in [Prototype.js](http://prototypejs.org/doc/latest/) (or [Ruby](http://www.ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Enumerable.html)), but without extending any of the built-in JavaScript objects. It's the tie to go along with [jQuery](http://docs.jquery.com/)'s tux, and [Backbone.js](http://backbonejs.org/)'s suspenders.
Underscore provides 80-odd functions that support both the usual functional suspects: **map**, **select**, **invoke** — as well as more specialized helpers: function binding, javascript templating, deep equality testing, and so on. It delegates to built-in functions, if present, so modern browsers will use the native implementations of **forEach**, **map**, **reduce**, **filter**, **every**, **some** and **indexOf**.
A complete [Test & Benchmark Suite](test/) is included for your perusal.
You may also read through the [annotated source code](docs/underscore.html).
The project is [hosted on GitHub](http://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/).
You can report bugs and discuss features on the [issues page](http://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/issues)
on Freenode in the `#documentcloud` channel,
or send tweets to [@documentcloud](http://twitter.com/documentcloud).
*Underscore is an open-source component of [DocumentCloud](http://documentcloud.org/).*
## Downloads (Right-click, and use "Save As")
Version | Size
:---------------------------------------------- | :--------------------------------------------
[Development Version (1.4.3)](underscore.js) | *40kb, Uncompressed with Plentiful Comments*
[Production Version (1.4.3)](underscore-min.js) | *4kb, Minified and Gzipped*
[Edge Version](https://raw.github.com/documentcloud/underscore/master/underscore.js) | *Unreleased, current `master`, use at your own risk*
:section Collections: Collection Functions (Arrays or Objects)
:item each: `_.each(list, iterator, [context])` :alias forEach:
Iterates over a **list** of elements, yielding each in turn to an iterator function.
The iterator is bound to the context object, if one is passed.
Each invocation of iterator is called with three arguments: `(element, index, list)`.
If list is a JavaScript object, iterator's arguments will be `(value, key, list)`.
Delegates to the native forEach function if it exists.
```
_.each([1, 2, 3], alert);
=> alerts each number in turn...
_.each({one : 1, two : 2, three : 3}, alert);
=> alerts each number value in turn...
```
:item map: `_.map(list, iterator, [context])` :alias collect:
Produces a new array of values by mapping each value in list through a transformation function (iterator). If the native map method exists, it will be used instead. If list is a JavaScript object, iterator's arguments will be (value, key, list).
```
_.map([1, 2, 3], function(num){ return num * 3; });
=> [3, 6, 9]
_.map({one : 1, two : 2, three : 3}, function(num, key){ return num * 3; });
=> [3, 6, 9]
```
:item reduce: `_.reduce(list, iterator, memo, [context])` :alias inject, foldl:
Also known as inject and foldl, reduce boils down a list of values into a single value. Memo is the initial state of the reduction, and each successive step of it should be returned by iterator. The iterator is passed four arguments: the memo, then the value and index (or key) of the iteration, and finally a reference to the entire list.
```
var sum = _.reduce([1, 2, 3], function(memo, num){ return memo + num; }, 0);
=> 6
```
:item reduceRight: `_.reduceRight(list, iterator, memo, [context])` :alias foldr:
The right-associative version of reduce. Delegates to the JavaScript 1.8 version of reduceRight, if it exists. Foldr is not as useful in JavaScript as it would be in a language with lazy evaluation.
```
var list = [[0, 1], [2, 3], [4, 5]];
var flat = _.reduceRight(list, function(a, b) { return a.concat(b); }, []);
=> [4, 5, 2, 3, 0, 1]
```
:item find: `_.find(list, iterator, [context])` :alias detect:
Looks through each value in the list, returning the first one that passes a truth test (iterator). The function returns as soon as it finds an acceptable element, and doesn't traverse the entire list.
```
var even = _.find([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], function(num){ return num % 2 == 0; });
=> 2
```
:item filter: `_.filter(list, iterator, [context])` :alias select:
Looks through each value in the list, returning an array of all the values that pass a truth test (iterator). Delegates to the native filter method, if it exists.
```
var evens = _.filter([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], function(num){ return num % 2 == 0; });
=> [2, 4, 6]
```
:item where: `_.where(list, properties)`
Looks through each value in the list, returning an array of all the values that contain all of the key-value pairs listed in properties.
```
_.where(listOfPlays, {author: "Shakespeare", year: 1611});
=> [{title: "Cymbeline", author: "Shakespeare", year: 1611},
{title: "The Tempest", author: "Shakespeare", year: 1611}]
```
:item reject: `_.reject(list, iterator, [context])`
Returns the values in list without the elements that the truth test (iterator) passes. The opposite of filter.
```
var odds = _.reject([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], function(num){ return num % 2 == 0; });
=> [1, 3, 5]
```
:item every: `_.every(list, iterator, [context])` :alias all:
Returns true if all of the values in the list pass the iterator truth test. Delegates to the native method every, if present.
```
_.every([true, 1, null, 'yes'], _.identity);
=> false
```
:item some: `_.some(list, [iterator], [context])` :alias any:
Returns true if any of the values in the list pass the iterator truth test. Short-circuits and stops traversing the list if a true element is found. Delegates to the native method some, if present.
```
_.some([null, 0, 'yes', false]);
=> true
```
:item contains: `_.contains(list, value)` :alias include:
Returns true if the value is present in the list. Uses indexOf internally, if list is an Array.
```
_.contains([1, 2, 3], 3);
=> true
```
:item invoke: `_.invoke(list, methodName, [*arguments])`
Calls the method named by methodName on each value in the list. Any extra arguments passed to invoke will be forwarded on to the method invocation.
```
_.invoke([[5, 1, 7], [3, 2, 1]], 'sort');
=> [[1, 5, 7], [1, 2, 3]]
```
:item pluck: `_.pluck(list, propertyName)`
A convenient version of what is perhaps the most common use-case for map: extracting a list of property values.
```
var stooges = [{name : 'moe', age : 40}, {name : 'larry', age : 50}, {name : 'curly', age : 60}];
_.pluck(stooges, 'name');
=> ["moe", "larry", "curly"]
```
:item max: `_.max(list, [iterator], [context])`
Returns the maximum value in list. If iterator is passed, it will be used on each value to generate the criterion by which the value is ranked.
```
var stooges = [{name : 'moe', age : 40}, {name : 'larry', age : 50}, {name : 'curly', age : 60}];
_.max(stooges, function(stooge){ return stooge.age; });
=> {name : 'curly', age : 60};
```
:item min: `_.min(list, [iterator], [context])`
Returns the minimum value in list. If iterator is passed, it will be used on each value to generate the criterion by which the value is ranked.
```
var numbers = [10, 5, 100, 2, 1000];
_.min(numbers);
=> 2
```
:item sortBy: `_.sortBy(list, iterator, [context])`
Returns a sorted copy of list, ranked in ascending order by the results of running each value through iterator. Iterator may also be the string name of the property to sort by (eg. length).
```
_.sortBy([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], function(num){ return Math.sin(num); });
=> [5, 4, 6, 3, 1, 2]
```
:item groupBy: `_.groupBy(list, iterator)`
Splits a collection into sets, grouped by the result of running each value through iterator. If iterator is a string instead of a function, groups by the property named by iterator on each of the values.
```
_.groupBy([1.3, 2.1, 2.4], function(num){ return Math.floor(num); });
=> {1: [1.3], 2: [2.1, 2.4]}
_.groupBy(['one', 'two', 'three'], 'length');
=> {3: ["one", "two"], 5: ["three"]}
```
:item countBy: `_.countBy(list, iterator)`
Sorts a list into groups and returns a count for the number of objects in each group. Similar to groupBy, but instead of returning a list of values, returns a count for the number of values in that group.
```
_.countBy([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], function(num) {
return num % 2 == 0 ? 'even' : 'odd';
});
=> {odd: 3, even: 2}
```
:item shuffle: `_.shuffle(list)`
Returns a shuffled copy of the list, using a version of the Fisher-Yates shuffle.
```
_.shuffle([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]);
=> [4, 1, 6, 3, 5, 2]
```
:item toArray: `_.toArray(list)`
Converts the list (anything that can be iterated over), into a real Array. Useful for transmuting the arguments object.
```
(function(){ return _.toArray(arguments).slice(1); })(1, 2, 3, 4);
=> [2, 3, 4]
```
:item size: `_.size(list)`
Return the number of values in the list.
```
_.size({one : 1, two : 2, three : 3});
=> 3
```
:section Arrays: Array Functions
*Note: All array functions will also work on the __arguments__ object. However, Underscore functions are not designed to work on "sparse" arrays.*
:item first: `_.first(array, [n])` :alias head, take:
Returns the first element of an array. Passing n will return the first n elements of the array.
```
_.first([5, 4, 3, 2, 1]);
=> 5
```
:item initial: `_.initial(array, [n])`
Returns everything but the last entry of the array. Especially useful on the arguments object. Pass n to exclude the last n elements from the result.
```
_.initial([5, 4, 3, 2, 1]);
=> [5, 4, 3, 2]
```
:item last: `_.last(array, [n])`
Returns the last element of an array. Passing n will return the last n elements of the array.
```
_.last([5, 4, 3, 2, 1]);
=> 1
```
:item rest: `_.rest(array, [index])` :alias tail, drop:
Returns the rest of the elements in an array. Pass an index to return the values of the array from that index onward.
```
_.rest([5, 4, 3, 2, 1]);
=> [4, 3, 2, 1]
```
:item compact: `_.compact(array)`
Returns a copy of the array with all falsy values removed. In JavaScript, false, null, 0, "", undefined and NaN are all falsy.
```
_.compact([0, 1, false, 2, '', 3]);
=> [1, 2, 3]
```
:item flatten: `_.flatten(array, [shallow])`
Flattens a nested array (the nesting can be to any depth). If you pass shallow, the array will only be flattened a single level.
```
_.flatten([1, [2], [3, [[4]]]]);
=> [1, 2, 3, 4];
_.flatten([1, [2], [3, [[4]]]], true);
=> [1, 2, 3, [[4]]];
```
:item without: `_.without(array, [*values])`
Returns a copy of the array with all instances of the values removed.
```
_.without([1, 2, 1, 0, 3, 1, 4], 0, 1);
=> [2, 3, 4]
```
:item union: `_.union(*arrays)`
Computes the union of the passed-in arrays: the list of unique items, in order, that are present in one or more of the arrays.
```
_.union([1, 2, 3], [101, 2, 1, 10], [2, 1]);
=> [1, 2, 3, 101, 10]
```
:item intersection: `_.intersection(*arrays)`
Computes the list of values that are the intersection of all the arrays. Each value in the result is present in each of the arrays.
```
_.intersection([1, 2, 3], [101, 2, 1, 10], [2, 1]);
=> [1, 2]
```
:item difference: `_.difference(array, *others)`
Similar to without, but returns the values from array that are not present in the other arrays.
```
_.difference([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], [5, 2, 10]);
=> [1, 3, 4]
```
:item uniq: `_.uniq(array, [isSorted], [iterator])` :alias unique:
Produces a duplicate-free version of the array, using === to test object equality. If you know in advance that the array is sorted, passing true for isSorted will run a much faster algorithm. If you want to compute unique items based on a transformation, pass an iterator function.
```
_.uniq([1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 4]);
=> [1, 2, 3, 4]
```
:item zip: `_.zip(*arrays)`
Merges together the values of each of the arrays with the values at the corresponding position. Useful when you have separate data sources that are coordinated through matching array indexes. If you're working with a matrix of nested arrays, zip.apply can transpose the matrix in a similar fashion.
```
_.zip(['moe', 'larry', 'curly'], [30, 40, 50], [true, false, false]);
=> [["moe", 30, true], ["larry", 40, false], ["curly", 50, false]]
```
:item object: `_.object(list, [values])`
Converts arrays into objects. Pass either a single list of [key, value] pairs, or a list of keys, and a list of values.
```
_.object(['moe', 'larry', 'curly'], [30, 40, 50]);
=> {moe: 30, larry: 40, curly: 50}
_.object([['moe', 30], ['larry', 40], ['curly', 50]]);
=> {moe: 30, larry: 40, curly: 50}
```
:item indexOf: `_.indexOf(array, value, [isSorted])`
Returns the index at which value can be found in the array, or -1 if value is not present in the array. Uses the native indexOf function unless it's missing. If you're working with a large array, and you know that the array is already sorted, pass true for isSorted to use a faster binary search ... or, pass a number as the third argument in order to look for the first matching value in the array after the given index.
```
_.indexOf([1, 2, 3], 2);
=> 1
```
:item lastIndexOf: `_.lastIndexOf(array, value, [fromIndex])`
Returns the index of the last occurrence of value in the array, or -1 if value is not present. Uses the native lastIndexOf function if possible. Pass fromIndex to start your search at a given index.
```
_.lastIndexOf([1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3], 2);
=> 4
```
:item sortedIndex: `_.sortedIndex(list, value, [iterator])`
Uses a binary search to determine the index at which the value should be inserted into the list in order to maintain the list's sorted order. If an iterator is passed, it will be used to compute the sort ranking of each value, including the value you pass.
```
_.sortedIndex([10, 20, 30, 40, 50], 35);
=> 3
```
:item range: `_.range([start], stop, [step])`
A function to create flexibly-numbered lists of integers, handy for each and map loops. start, if omitted, defaults to 0; step defaults to 1. Returns a list of integers from start to stop, incremented (or decremented) by step, exclusive.
```
_.range(10);
=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
_.range(1, 11);
=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
_.range(0, 30, 5);
=> [0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25]
_.range(0, -10, -1);
=> [0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9]
_.range(0);
=> []
```
:section Functions: Function (uh, ahem) Functions
:item bind: `_.bind(function, object, [*arguments])`
Bind a function to an object, meaning that whenever the function is called, the value of this will be the object. Optionally, bind arguments to the function to pre-fill them, also known as partial application.
```
var func = function(greeting){ return greeting + ': ' + this.name };
func = _.bind(func, {name : 'moe'}, 'hi');
func();
=> 'hi: moe'
```
:item bindAll: `_.bindAll(object, [*methodNames])`
Binds a number of methods on the object, specified by methodNames, to be run in the context of that object whenever they are invoked. Very handy for binding functions that are going to be used as event handlers, which would otherwise be invoked with a fairly useless this. If no methodNames are provided, all of the object's function properties will be bound to it.
```
var buttonView = {
label : 'underscore',
onClick : function(){ alert('clicked: ' + this.label); },
onHover : function(){ console.log('hovering: ' + this.label); }
};
_.bindAll(buttonView);
jQuery('#underscore_button').bind('click', buttonView.onClick);
=> When the button is clicked, this.label will have the correct value...
```
:item memoize: `_.memoize(function, [hashFunction])`
Memoizes a given function by caching the computed result. Useful for speeding up slow-running computations. If passed an optional hashFunction, it will be used to compute the hash key for storing the result, based on the arguments to the original function. The default hashFunction just uses the first argument to the memoized function as the key.
```
var fibonacci = _.memoize(function(n) {
return n < 2 ? n : fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2);
});
```
:item delay: `_.delay(function, wait, [*arguments])`
Much like setTimeout, invokes function after wait milliseconds. If you pass the optional arguments, they will be forwarded on to the function when it is invoked.
```
var log = _.bind(console.log, console);
_.delay(log, 1000, 'logged later');
=> 'logged later' // Appears after one second.
```
:item defer: `_.defer(function, [*arguments])`
Defers invoking the function until the current call stack has cleared, similar to using setTimeout with a delay of 0. Useful for performing expensive computations or HTML rendering in chunks without blocking the UI thread from updating. If you pass the optional arguments, they will be forwarded on to the function when it is invoked.
```
_.defer(function(){ alert('deferred'); });
// Returns from the function before the alert runs.
```
:item throttle: `_.throttle(function, wait)`
Creates and returns a new, throttled version of the passed function, that, when invoked repeatedly, will only actually call the original function at most once per every wait milliseconds. Useful for rate-limiting events that occur faster than you can keep up with.
```
var throttled = _.throttle(updatePosition, 100);
$(window).scroll(throttled);
```
:item debounce: `_.debounce(function, wait, [immediate])`
Creates and returns a new debounced version of the passed function that will postpone its execution until after wait milliseconds have elapsed since the last time it was invoked. Useful for implementing behavior that should only happen after the input has stopped arriving. For example: rendering a preview of a Markdown comment, recalculating a layout after the window has stopped being resized, and so on.
Pass true for the immediate parameter to cause debounce to trigger the function on the leading instead of the trailing edge of the wait interval. Useful in circumstances like preventing accidental double-clicks on a "submit" button from firing a second time.
```
var lazyLayout = _.debounce(calculateLayout, 300);
$(window).resize(lazyLayout);
```
:item once: `_.once(function)`
Creates a version of the function that can only be called one time. Repeated calls to the modified function will have no effect, returning the value from the original call. Useful for initialization functions, instead of having to set a boolean flag and then check it later.
```
var initialize = _.once(createApplication);
initialize();
initialize();
// Application is only created once.
```
:item after: `_.after(count, function)`
Creates a version of the function that will only be run after first being called count times. Useful for grouping asynchronous responses, where you want to be sure that all the async calls have finished, before proceeding.
```
var renderNotes = _.after(notes.length, render);
_.each(notes, function(note) {
note.asyncSave({success: renderNotes});
});
// renderNotes is run once, after all notes have saved.
```
:item wrap: `_.wrap(function, wrapper)`
Wraps the first function inside of the wrapper function, passing it as the first argument. This allows the wrapper to execute code before and after the function runs, adjust the arguments, and execute it conditionally.
```
var hello = function(name) { return "hello: " + name; };
hello = _.wrap(hello, function(func) {
return "before, " + func("moe") + ", after";
});
hello();
=> 'before, hello: moe, after'
```
:item compose: `_.compose(*functions)`
Returns the composition of a list of functions, where each function consumes the return value of the function that follows. In math terms, composing the functions f(), g(), and h() produces f(g(h())).
```
var greet = function(name){ return "hi: " + name; };
var exclaim = function(statement){ return statement + "!"; };
var welcome = _.compose(exclaim, greet);
welcome('moe');
=> 'hi: moe!'
```
:section Objects: Object Functions
:item keys: `_.keys(object)`
Retrieve all the names of the object's properties.
```
_.keys({one : 1, two : 2, three : 3});
=> ["one", "two", "three"]
```
:item values: `_.values(object)`
Return all of the values of the object's properties.
```
_.values({one : 1, two : 2, three : 3});
=> [1, 2, 3]
```
:item pairs: `_.pairs(object)`
Convert an object into a list of [key, value] pairs.
```
_.pairs({one: 1, two: 2, three: 3});
=> [["one", 1], ["two", 2], ["three", 3]]
```
:item invert: `_.invert(object)`
Returns a copy of the object where the keys have become the values and the values the keys. For this to work, all of your object's values should be unique and string serializable.
```
_.invert({Moe: "Moses", Larry: "Louis", Curly: "Jerome"});
=> {Moses: "Moe", Louis: "Larry", Jerome: "Curly"};
```
:item functions: `_.functions(object)` Alias: methods
Returns a sorted list of the names of every method in an object — that is to say, the name of every function property of the object.
```
_.functions(_);
=> ["all", "any", "bind", "bindAll", "clone", "compact", "compose" ...
```
:item extend: `_.extend(destination, *sources)`
Copy all of the properties in the source objects over to the destination object, and return the destination object. It's in-order, so the last source will override properties of the same name in previous arguments.
```
_.extend({name : 'moe'}, {age : 50});
=> {name : 'moe', age : 50}
```
:item pick: `_.pick(object, *keys)`
Return a copy of the object, filtered to only have values for the whitelisted keys (or array of valid keys).
```
_.pick({name : 'moe', age: 50, userid : 'moe1'}, 'name', 'age');
=> {name : 'moe', age : 50}
```
:item omit: `_.omit(object, *keys)`
Return a copy of the object, filtered to omit the blacklisted keys (or array of keys).
```
_.omit({name : 'moe', age : 50, userid : 'moe1'}, 'userid');
=> {name : 'moe', age : 50}
```
:item defaults: `_.defaults(object, *defaults)`
Fill in null and undefined properties in object with values from the defaults objects, and return the object. As soon as the property is filled, further defaults will have no effect.
```
var iceCream = {flavor : "chocolate"};
_.defaults(iceCream, {flavor : "vanilla", sprinkles : "lots"});
=> {flavor : "chocolate", sprinkles : "lots"}
```
:item clone: `_.clone(object)`
Create a shallow-copied clone of the object. Any nested objects or arrays will be copied by reference, not duplicated.
```
_.clone({name : 'moe'});
=> {name : 'moe'};
```
:item tap: `_.tap(object, interceptor)`
Invokes interceptor with the object, and then returns object. The primary purpose of this method is to "tap into" a method chain, in order to perform operations on intermediate results within the chain.
```
_.chain([1,2,3,200])
.filter(function(num) { return num % 2 == 0; })
.tap(alert)
.map(function(num) { return num * num })
.value();
=> // [2, 200] (alerted)
=> [4, 40000]
```
:item has: `_.has(object, key)`
Does the object contain the given key? Identical to object.hasOwnProperty(key), but uses a safe reference to the hasOwnProperty function, in case it's been overridden accidentally.
```
_.has({a: 1, b: 2, c: 3}, "b");
=> true
```
:item isEqual: `_.isEqual(object, other)`
Performs an optimized deep comparison between the two objects, to determine if they should be considered equal.
```
var moe = {name : 'moe', luckyNumbers : [13, 27, 34]};
var clone = {name : 'moe', luckyNumbers : [13, 27, 34]};
moe == clone;
=> false
_.isEqual(moe, clone);
=> true
```
:item isEmpty: `_.isEmpty(object)`
Returns true if object contains no values.
```
_.isEmpty([1, 2, 3]);
=> false
_.isEmpty({});
=> true
```
:item isElement: `_.isElement(object)`
Returns true if object is a DOM element.
```
_.isElement(jQuery('body')[0]);
=> true
```
:item isArray: `_.isArray(object)`
Returns true if object is an Array.
```
(function(){ return _.isArray(arguments); })();
=> false
_.isArray([1,2,3]);
=> true
```
:item isObject: `_.isObject(value)`
Returns true if value is an Object. Note that JavaScript arrays and functions are objects, while (normal) strings and numbers are not.
```
_.isObject({});
=> true
_.isObject(1);
=> false
```
:item isArguments: `_.isArguments(object)`
Returns true if object is an Arguments object.
```
(function(){ return _.isArguments(arguments); })(1, 2, 3);
=> true
_.isArguments([1,2,3]);
=> false
```
:item isFunction: `_.isFunction(object)`
Returns true if object is a Function.
```
_.isFunction(alert);
=> true
```
:item isString: `_.isString(object)`
Returns true if object is a String.
```
_.isString("moe");
=> true
```
:item isNumber: `_.isNumber(object)`
Returns true if object is a Number (including NaN).
```
_.isNumber(8.4 * 5);
=> true
```
:item isFinite: `_.isFinite(object)`
Returns true if object is a finite Number.
```
_.isFinite(-101);
=> true
```
```
_.isFinite(-Infinity);
=> false
```
:item isBoolean: `_.isBoolean(object)`
Returns true if object is either true or false.
```
_.isBoolean(null);
=> false
```
:item isDate: `_.isDate(object)`
Returns true if object is a Date.
```
_.isDate(new Date());
=> true
```
:item isRegExp: `_.isRegExp(object)`
Returns true if object is a RegExp.
```
_.isRegExp(/moe/);
=> true
```
:item isNaN: `_.isNaN(object)`
Returns true if object is NaN.
Note: this is not the same as the native isNaN function, which will also return true if the variable is undefined.
```
_.isNaN(NaN);
=> true
isNaN(undefined);
=> true
_.isNaN(undefined);
=> false
```
:item isNull: `_.isNull(object)`
Returns true if the value of object is null.
```
_.isNull(null);
=> true
_.isNull(undefined);
=> false
```
:item isUndefined: `_.isUndefined(value)`
Returns true if value is undefined.
```
_.isUndefined(window.missingVariable);
=> true
```
:section Utility: Utility Functions
:item noConflict: `_.noConflict()`
Give control of the "_" variable back to its previous owner. Returns a reference to the Underscore object.
```
var underscore = _.noConflict();
```
:item identity: `_.identity(value)`
Returns the same value that is used as the argument. In math: f(x) = x
This function looks useless, but is used throughout Underscore as a default iterator.
```
var moe = {name : 'moe'};
moe === _.identity(moe);
=> true
```
:item times: `_.times(n, iterator, [context])`
Invokes the given iterator function n times. Each invocation of iterator is called with an index argument.
Note: this example uses the chaining syntax.
```
_(3).times(function(n){ genie.grantWishNumber(n); });
```
:item random: `_.random(min, max)`
Returns a random integer between min and max, inclusive. If you only pass one argument, it will return a number between 0 and that number.
```
_.random(0, 100);
=> 42
```
:item mixin: `_.mixin(object)`
Allows you to extend Underscore with your own utility functions. Pass a hash of {name: function} definitions to have your functions added to the Underscore object, as well as the OOP wrapper.
```
_.mixin({
capitalize : function(string) {
return string.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + string.substring(1).toLowerCase();
}
});
_("fabio").capitalize();
=> "Fabio"
```
:item uniqueId: `_.uniqueId([prefix])`
Generate a globally-unique id for client-side models or DOM elements that need one. If prefix is passed, the id will be appended to it.
```
_.uniqueId('contact_');
=> 'contact_104'
```
:item escape: `_.escape(string)`
Escapes a string for insertion into HTML, replacing &, <, >, ", ', and / characters.
```
_.escape('Curly, Larry & Moe');
=> "Curly, Larry & Moe"
```
:item unescape: `_.unescape(string)`
The opposite of escape, replaces &, <, >, ", ', and / with their unescaped counterparts.
```
_.escape('Curly, Larry & Moe');
=> "Curly, Larry & Moe"
```
:item result: `_.result(object, property)`
If the value of the named property is a function then invoke it; otherwise, return it.
```
var object = {cheese: 'crumpets', stuff: function(){ return 'nonsense'; }};
_.result(object, 'cheese');
=> "crumpets"
_.result(object, 'stuff');
=> "nonsense"
```
:item template: `_.template(templateString, [data], [settings])`
Compiles JavaScript templates into functions that can be evaluated for rendering. Useful for rendering complicated bits of HTML from JSON data sources. Template functions can both interpolate variables, using `<%= … %>`, as well as execute arbitrary JavaScript code, with `<% … %>`. If you wish to interpolate a value, and have it be HTML-escaped, use `<%- … %>` When you evaluate a template function, pass in a data object that has properties corresponding to the template's free variables. If you're writing a one-off, you can pass the data object as the second parameter to template in order to render immediately instead of returning a template function. The settings argument should be a hash containing any `_.templateSettings` that should be overridden.
```
var compiled = _.template("hello: <%= name %>");
compiled({name : 'moe'});
=> "hello: moe"
var list = "<% _.each(people, function(name) { %> <%= name %> <% }); %>";
_.template(list, {people : ['moe', 'curly', 'larry']});
=> "moecurlylarry"
var template = _.template("<%- value %>");
template({value : '
```
:section Chaining: Chaining
You can use Underscore in either an object-oriented or a functional style, depending on your preference. The following two lines of code are identical ways to double a list of numbers.
```
_.map([1, 2, 3], function(n){ return n * 2; });
_([1, 2, 3]).map(function(n){ return n * 2; });
```
Calling chain will cause all future method calls to return wrapped objects. When you've finished the computation, use value to retrieve the final value. Here's an example of chaining together a map/flatten/reduce, in order to get the word count of every word in a song.
```
var lyrics = [
{line : 1, words : "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay"},
{line : 2, words : "I sleep all night and I work all day"},
{line : 3, words : "He's a lumberjack and he's okay"},
{line : 4, words : "He sleeps all night and he works all day"}
];
_.chain(lyrics)
.map(function(line) { return line.words.split(' '); })
.flatten()
.reduce(function(counts, word) {
counts[word] = (counts[word] || 0) + 1;
return counts;
}, {}).value();
=> {lumberjack : 2, all : 4, night : 2 ... }
```
In addition, the Array prototype's methods are proxied through the chained Underscore object, so you can slip a reverse or a push into your chain, and continue to modify the array.
:item chain: `_.chain(obj)`
Returns a wrapped object. Calling methods on this object will continue to return wrapped objects until value is used.
```
var stooges = [{name : 'curly', age : 25}, {name : 'moe', age : 21}, {name : 'larry', age : 23}];
var youngest = _.chain(stooges)
.sortBy(function(stooge){ return stooge.age; })
.map(function(stooge){ return stooge.name + ' is ' + stooge.age; })
.first()
.value();
=> "moe is 21"
```
:item value: `_(obj).value()`
Extracts the value of a wrapped object.
```
_([1, 2, 3]).value();
=> [1, 2, 3]
```
:section Links: Links & Suggested Reading
The Underscore documentation is also available in [Simplified Chinese](http://learning.github.com/underscore/).
[Underscore.lua](http://mirven.github.com/underscore.lua/), a Lua port of the functions that are applicable in both languages. Includes OOP-wrapping and chaining. ([source](https://github.com/robb/Underscore.m))
[Underscore.m](http://underscorem.org/), an Objective-C port of many of the Underscore.js functions, using a syntax that encourages chaining. ([source](https://github.com/robb/Underscore.m))
[_.m](http://kmalakoff.github.com/_.m/), an alternative Objective-C port that tries to stick a little closer to the original Underscore.js API. ([source](https://github.com/kmalakoff/_.m))
[Underscore.php](http://brianhaveri.github.com/Underscore.php/), a PHP port of the functions that are applicable in both languages. Includes OOP-wrapping and chaining. ([source](http://github.com/brianhaveri/Underscore.php))
[Underscore-perl](http://vti.github.com/underscore-perl/), a Perl port of many of the Underscore.js functions, aimed at on Perl hashes and arrays. ([source](https://github.com/vti/underscore-perl/))
[Underscore.cfc](http://russplaysguitar.github.com/UnderscoreCF/), a Coldfusion port of many of the Underscore.js functions. ([source](https://github.com/russplaysguitar/underscorecf))
[Underscore.string](https://github.com/edtsech/underscore.string), an Underscore extension that adds functions for string-manipulation: `trim`, `startsWith`, `contains`, `capitalize`, `reverse`, `sprintf`, and more.
Ruby's [Enumerable](http://ruby-doc.org/core/classes/Enumerable.html) module.
[Prototype.js](http://www.prototypejs.org/), which provides JavaScript with collection functions in the manner closest to Ruby's Enumerable.
Oliver Steele's [Functional JavaScript](http://osteele.com/sources/javascript/functional/), which includes comprehensive higher-order function support as well as string lambdas.
Michael Aufreiter's [Data.js](http://github.com/michael/data), a data manipulation + persistence library for JavaScript.
Python's [itertools](http://docs.python.org/library/itertools.html).
:section Change Log: Change Log
**1.4.3** -- _Dec. 4, 2012_ -- [Diff](https://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/compare/1.4.2...1.4.3)
* Improved Underscore compatibility with Adobe's JS engine that can be used to script Illustrator, Photoshop, and friends.
* Added a default `_.identity` iterator to `countBy` and `groupBy`.
* The `uniq` function can now take `array, iterator, context` as the argument list.
* The `times` function now returns the mapped array of iterator results.
* Simplified and fixed bugs in `throttle`.
**1.4.2** -- _Oct. 1, 2012_ -- [Diff](https://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/compare/1.4.1...1.4.2)
* For backwards compatibility, returned to pre-1.4.0 behavior when passing `null` to iteration functions. They now become no-ops again.
**1.4.1** -- _Oct. 1, 2012_ -- [Diff](https://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/compare/1.4.0...1.4.1)
* Fixed a 1.4.0 regression in the `lastIndexOf` function.
**1.4.0** -- _Sept. 27, 2012_ -- [Diff](https://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/compare/1.3.3...1.4.0)
* Added a `pairs` function, for turning a JavaScript object into `[key, value]` pairs ... as well as an `object` function, for converting an array of `[key, value]` pairs into an object.
* Added a `countBy` function, for counting the number of objects in a list that match a certain criteria.
* Added an `invert` function, for performing a simple inversion of the keys and values in an object.
* Added a `where` function, for easy cases of filtering a list for objects with specific values.
* Added an `omit` function, for filtering an object to remove certain keys.
* Added a `random` function, to return a random number in a given range.
* `_.debounce`'d functions now return their last updated value, just like `_.throttle`'d functions do.
* The `sortBy` function now runs a stable sort algorithm.
* Added the optional `fromIndex` option to `indexOf` and `lastIndexOf`.
* "Sparse" arrays are no longer supported in Underscore iteration functions. Use a `for` loop instead (or better yet, an object).
* The `min` and `max` functions may now be called on _very_ large arrays.
* Interpolation in templates now represents `null` and `undefined` as the empty string.
* Underscore iteration functions no longer accept `null` values as a no-op argument. You'll get an early error instead.
* A number of edge-cases fixes and tweaks, which you can spot in the [diff](https://github.com/documentcloud/underscore/compare/1.3.3...1.4.0). Depending on how you're using Underscore, **1.4.0** may be more backwards-incompatible than usual -- please test when you upgrade.
**1.3.3** -- _April 10, 2012_
* Many improvements to `_.template`, which now provides the `source` of the template function as a property, for potentially even more efficient pre-compilation on the server-side. You may now also set the `variable` option when creating a template, which will cause your passed-in data to be made available under the variable you named, instead of using a `with` statement -- significantly improving the speed of rendering the template.
* Added the `pick` function, which allows you to filter an object literal with a whitelist of allowed property names.
* Added the `result` function, for convenience when working with APIs that allow either functions or raw properties.
* Added the `isFinite` function, because sometimes knowing that a value is a number just ain't quite enough.
* The `sortBy` function may now also be passed the string name of a property to use as the sort order on each object.
* Fixed `uniq` to work with sparse arrays.
* The `difference` function now performs a shallow flatten instead of a deep one when computing array differences.
* The `debounce` function now takes an `immediate` parameter, which will cause the callback to fire on the leading instead of the trailing edge.
**1.3.1** -- _Jan. 23, 2012_
* Added an `_.has` function, as a safer way to use `hasOwnProperty`.
* Added `_.collect` as an alias for `_.map`. Smalltalkers, rejoice.
* Reverted an old change so that `_.extend` will correctly copy over keys with undefined values again.
* Bugfix to stop escaping slashes within interpolations in `_.template`.
**1.3.0** -- _Jan. 11, 2012_
* Removed AMD (RequireJS) support from Underscore. If you'd like to use Underscore with RequireJS, you can load it as a normal script, wrap or patch your copy, or download a forked version.
**1.2.4** -- _Jan. 4, 2012_
* You now can (and probably should, as it's simpler) write `_.chain(list)` instead of `_(list).chain()`.
* Fix for escaped characters in Underscore templates, and for supporting customizations of `_.templateSettings` that only define one or two of the required regexes.
* Fix for passing an array as the first argument to an `_.wrap`'d function.
* Improved compatibility with ClojureScript, which adds a `call` function to `String.prototype`.
**1.2.3** -- _Dec. 7, 2011_
* Dynamic scope is now preserved for compiled `_.template` functions, so you can use the value of `this` if you like.
* Sparse array support of `_.indexOf`, `_.lastIndexOf`.
* Both `_.reduce` and `_.reduceRight` can now be passed an explicitly `undefined` value. (There's no reason why you'd want to do this.)
**1.2.2** -- _Nov. 14, 2011_
* Continued tweaks to `_.isEqual` semantics. Now JS primitives are considered equivalent to their wrapped versions, and arrays are compared by their numeric properties only (#351).
* `_.escape` no longer tries to be smart about not double-escaping already-escaped HTML entities. Now it just escapes regardless (#350).
* In `_.template`, you may now leave semicolons out of evaluated statements if you wish: `<% }) %>` (#369).
* `_.after(callback, 0)` will now trigger the callback immediately, making "after" easier to use with asynchronous APIs (#366).
**1.2.1** -- _Oct. 24, 2011_
* Several important bug fixes for `_.isEqual`, which should now do better on mutated Arrays, and on non-Array objects with `length` properties. (#329)
* **jrburke** contributed Underscore exporting for AMD module loaders, and **tonylukasavage** for Appcelerator Titanium. (#335, #338)
* You can now `_.groupBy(list, 'property')` as a shortcut for grouping values by a particular common property.
* `_.throttle`'d functions now fire immediately upon invocation, and are rate-limited thereafter (#170, #266).
* Most of the `_.is[Type]` checks no longer ducktype.
* The `_.bind` function now also works on constructors, a-la ES5 ... but you would never want to use `_.bind` on a constructor function.
* `_.clone` no longer wraps non-object types in Objects.
* `_.find` and `_.filter` are now the preferred names for `_.detect` and `_.select`.
**1.2.0** -- _Oct. 5, 2011_
* The `_.isEqual` function now supports true deep equality comparisons, with checks for cyclic structures, thanks to Kit Cambridge.
* Underscore templates now support HTML escaping interpolations, using `<%- ... %>` syntax.
* Ryan Tenney contributed `_.shuffle`, which uses a modified Fisher-Yates to give you a shuffled copy of an array.
* `_.uniq` can now be passed an optional iterator, to determine by what criteria an object should be considered unique.
* `_.last` now takes an optional argument which will return the last N elements of the list.
* A new `_.initial` function was added, as a mirror of `_.rest`, which returns all the initial values of a list (except the last N).
**1.1.7** -- _July 13, 2011_
Added `_.groupBy`, which aggregates a collection into groups of like items.
Added `_.union` and `_.difference`, to complement the (re-named)
`_.intersection`. Various improvements for support of sparse arrays.
`_.toArray` now returns a clone, if directly passed an array. `_.functions`
now also returns the names of functions that are present in the prototype
chain.
**1.1.6** -- _April 18, 2011_
Added `_.after`, which will return a function that only runs after first being
called a specified number of times. `_.invoke` can now take a direct function
reference. `_.every` now requires an iterator function to be passed, which
mirrors the ECMA5 API. `_.extend` no longer copies keys when the value is
undefined. `_.bind` now errors when trying to bind an undefined value.
**1.1.5** -- _Mar 20, 2011_
Added an `_.defaults` function, for use merging together JS objects
representing default options. Added an `_.once` function, for manufacturing
functions that should only ever execute a single time. `_.bind` now delegates
to the native ECMAScript 5 version, where available. `_.keys` now throws an
error when used on non-Object values, as in ECMAScript 5. Fixed a bug with
`_.keys` when used over sparse arrays.
**1.1.4** -- _Jan 9, 2011_
Improved compliance with ES5's Array methods when passing `null` as a value.
`_.wrap` now correctly sets `this` for the wrapped function. `_.indexOf` now
takes an optional flag for finding the insertion index in an array that is
guaranteed to already be sorted. Avoiding the use of `.callee`, to allow
`_.isArray` to work properly in ES5's strict mode.
**1.1.3** -- _Dec 1, 2010_
In CommonJS, Underscore may now be required with just:
`var _ = require("underscore")`. Added `_.throttle` and `_.debounce`
functions. Removed `_.breakLoop`, in favor of an ECMA5-style un-_break_-able
each implementation -- this removes the try/catch, and you'll now have better
stack traces for exceptions that are thrown within an Underscore iterator.
Improved the **isType** family of functions for better interoperability with
Internet Explorer host objects. `_.template` now correctly escapes backslashes
in templates. Improved `_.reduce` compatibility with the ECMA5 version: if you
don't pass an initial value, the first item in the collection is used.
`_.each` no longer returns the iterated collection, for improved consistency
with ES5's `forEach`.
**1.1.2**
Fixed `_.contains`, which was mistakenly pointing at `_.intersect` instead of
`_.include`, like it should have been. Added `_.unique` as an alias for
`_.uniq`.
**1.1.1**
Improved the speed of `_.template`, and its handling of multiline
interpolations. Ryan Tenney contributed optimizations to many Underscore
functions. An annotated version of the source code is now available.
**1.1.0**
The method signature of `_.reduce` has been changed to match the ECMAScript 5
signature, instead of the Ruby/Prototype.js version. This is a backwards-
incompatible change. `_.template` may now be called with no arguments, and
preserves whitespace. `_.contains` is a new alias for `_.include`.
**1.0.4**
[Andri Möll](http://themoell.com/) contributed the `_.memoize` function, which
can be used to speed up expensive repeated computations by caching the
results.
**1.0.3**
Patch that makes `_.isEqual` return `false` if any property of the compared
object has a `NaN` value. Technically the correct thing to do, but of
questionable semantics. Watch out for NaN comparisons.
**1.0.2**
Fixes `_.isArguments` in recent versions of Opera, which have arguments
objects as real Arrays.
**1.0.1**
Bugfix for `_.isEqual`, when comparing two objects with the same number of
undefined keys, but with different names.
**1.0.0**
Things have been stable for many months now, so Underscore is now considered
to be out of beta, at **1.0**. Improvements since **0.6** include
`_.isBoolean`, and the ability to have `_.extend` take multiple source
objects.
**0.6.0**
Major release. Incorporates a number of [Mile
Frawley's](http://github.com/ratbeard) refactors for safer duck-typing on
collection functions, and cleaner internals. A new `_.mixin` method that
allows you to extend Underscore with utility functions of your own. Added
`_.times`, which works the same as in Ruby or Prototype.js. Native support for
ECMAScript 5's `Array.isArray`, and `Object.keys`.
**0.5.8**
Fixed Underscore's collection functions to work on
[NodeLists](https://developer.mozilla.org/En/DOM/NodeList) and
[HTMLCollections](https://developer.mozilla.org/En/DOM/HTMLCollection) once
more, thanks to [Justin Tulloss](http://github.com/jmtulloss).
**0.5.7**
A safer implementation of `_.isArguments`, and a faster `_.isNumber`,
thanks to [Jed Schmidt](http://jedschmidt.com/).
**0.5.6**
Customizable delimiters for `_.template`, contributed by [Noah
Sloan](http://github.com/iamnoah).
**0.5.5**
Fix for a bug in MobileSafari's OOP-wrapper, with the arguments object.
**0.5.4**
Fix for multiple single quotes within a template string for `_.template`. See:
[Rick Strahl's blog post](http://www.west-wind.com/Weblog/posts/509108.aspx).
**0.5.2**
New implementations of `isArray`, `isDate`, `isFunction`, `isNumber`,
`isRegExp`, and `isString`, thanks to a suggestion from [Robert
Kieffer](http://www.broofa.com/). Instead of doing `Object#toString`
comparisons, they now check for expected properties, which is less safe, but
more than an order of magnitude faster. Most other Underscore functions saw
minor speed improvements as a result. [Evgeniy
Dolzhenko](http://dolzhenko.org/) contributed `_.tap`, [similar to Ruby
1.9's](http://ruby-doc.org/core-1.9/classes/Object.html#M000191), which is
handy for injecting side effects (like logging) into chained calls.
**0.5.1**
Added an `_.isArguments` function. Lots of little safety checks and
optimizations contributed by [Noah Sloan](http://github.com/iamnoah/) and
[Andri Möll](http://themoell.com/).
**0.5.0**
**[API Changes]** `_.bindAll` now takes the context object as its first parameter. If no method names are passed, all of the context object's methods are bound to it, enabling chaining and easier binding. `_.functions` now takes a single argument and returns the names of its Function properties. Calling `_.functions(_)` will get you the previous behavior. Added `_.isRegExp` so that `isEqual` can now test for RegExp equality. All of the "is" functions have been shrunk down into a single definition. [Karl Guertin](http://github.com/grayrest/) contributed patches.
**0.4.7**
Added `isDate`, `isNaN`, and `isNull`, for completeness. Optimizations for
`isEqual` when checking equality between Arrays or Dates. `_.keys` is now
_**25%-2X**_ faster (depending on your browser) which speeds up the functions
that rely on it, such as `_.each`.
**0.4.6**
Added the `range` function, a port of the [Python function of the same
name](http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html#range), for generating
flexibly-numbered lists of integers. Original patch contributed by [Kirill
Ishanov](http://github.com/kylichuku).
**0.4.5**
Added `rest` for Arrays and arguments objects, and aliased `first` as `head`,
and `rest` as `tail`, thanks to [Luke Sutton](http://github.com/lukesutton/)'s
patches. Added tests ensuring that all Underscore Array functions also work on
_arguments_ objects.
**0.4.4**
Added `isString`, and `isNumber`, for consistency. Fixed `_.isEqual(NaN, NaN)`
to return _true_ (which is debatable).
**0.4.3**
Started using the native `StopIteration` object in browsers that support it.
Fixed Underscore setup for CommonJS environments.
**0.4.2**
Renamed the unwrapping function to `value`, for clarity.
**0.4.1**
Chained Underscore objects now support the Array prototype methods, so that
you can perform the full range of operations on a wrapped array without having
to break your chain. Added a `breakLoop` method to **break** in the middle of
any Underscore iteration. Added an `isEmpty` function that works on arrays and
objects.
**0.4.0**
All Underscore functions can now be called in an object-oriented style, like
so: `_([1, 2, 3]).map(...);`. Original patch provided by [Marc-André
Cournoyer](http://macournoyer.com/). Wrapped objects can be chained through
multiple method invocations. A `functions` method was added, providing a
sorted list of all the functions in Underscore.
**0.3.3**
Added the JavaScript 1.8 function `reduceRight`. Aliased it as `foldr`, and
aliased `reduce` as `foldl`.
**0.3.2**
Now runs on stock [Rhino](http://www.mozilla.org/rhino/) interpreters with:
`load("underscore.js")`. Added `identity` as a utility function.
**0.3.1**
All iterators are now passed in the original collection as their third
argument, the same as JavaScript 1.6's **forEach**. Iterating over objects is
now called with `(value, key, collection)`, for details see `_.each`.
**0.3.0**
Added [Dmitry Baranovskiy](http://github.com/dmitryBaranovskiy)'s
comprehensive optimizations, merged in [Kris
Kowal](http://github.com/kriskowal/)'s patches to make Underscore
[CommonJS](http://wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/CommonJS) and
[Narwhal](http://narwhaljs.org/) compliant.
**0.2.0**
Added `compose` and `lastIndexOf`, renamed `inject` to `reduce`, added aliases
for `inject`, `filter`, `every`, `some`, and `forEach`.
**0.1.1**
Added `noConflict`, so that the "Underscore" object can be assigned to other
variables.
**0.1.0**
Initial release of Underscore.js.
[ 
](http://documentcloud.org/)