JavaScript: Get the symmetric difference between two given arrays

JavaScript fundamental (ES6 Syntax): Exercise-134 with Solution

Symmetric Difference Between Arrays

Write a JavaScript program to get the symmetric difference between two given arrays.

• Create a new Set() from each array to get the unique values of each one.
• Use Array.prototype.filter() on each of them to only keep values not contained in the other.

Sample Solution:

JavaScript Code:

//#Source https://bit.ly/2neWfJ2

// Define the 'symmetricDifference' function.
const symmetricDifference = (a, b) => {
  // Create sets from arrays 'a' and 'b'.
  const sA = new Set(a),
    sB = new Set(b);
  // Return the symmetric difference by filtering elements that are unique to each array.
  return [...a.filter(x => !sB.has(x)), ...b.filter(x => !sA.has(x))];
};

// Test the 'symmetricDifference' function.
console.log(symmetricDifference([1, 2, 3], [1, 2, 4])); // Output: [3, 4]

Output:

[3,4]

Visual Presentation:

Flowchart:

Live Demo:

See the Pen javascript-basic-exercise-134-1 by w3resource (@w3resource) on CodePen.

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a JavaScript program that finds the symmetric difference between two arrays without using a comparator.
• Write a JavaScript function that returns a new array containing elements that appear in one array but not both.
• Write a JavaScript program that leverages Set operations to compute the symmetric difference between two arrays.

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