[javascript] Why does javascript map function return undefined?

My code

 var arr = ['a','b',1];
 var results = arr.map(function(item){
                if(typeof item ==='string'){return item;}  
               });

This gives the following results

["a","b",undefined]

I don't want undefined in the results array.How can I do it?

You only return a value if the current element is a string. Perhaps assigning an empty string otherwise will suffice:

var arr = ['a','b',1];
var results = arr.map(function(item){
    return (typeof item ==='string') ? item : '';  
});

Of course, if you want to filter any non-string elements, you shouldn't use map(). Rather, you should look into using the filter() function.

My solution would be to use filter after the map.

This should support every JS data type.

example:

const notUndefined = anyValue => typeof anyValue !== 'undefined'    
const noUndefinedList = someList
          .map(// mapping condition)
          .filter(notUndefined); // by doing this, 
                      //you can ensure what's returned is not undefined

Since ES6 filter supports pointy arrow notation (like LINQ):

So it can be boiled down to following one-liner.

['a','b',1].filter(item => typeof item ==='string');

You can implement like a below logic. Suppose you want an array of values.

let test = [ {name:'test',lastname:'kumar',age:30},
             {name:'test',lastname:'kumar',age:30},
             {name:'test3',lastname:'kumar',age:47},
             {name:'test',lastname:'kumar',age:28},
             {name:'test4',lastname:'kumar',age:30},
             {name:'test',lastname:'kumar',age:29}]

let result1 = test.map(element => 
              { 
                 if (element.age === 30) 
                 {
                    return element.lastname;
                 }
              }).filter(notUndefined => notUndefined !== undefined);

output : ['kumar','kumar','kumar']

var arr = ['a','b',1];
 var results = arr.filter(function(item){
                if(typeof item ==='string'){return item;}  
               });

Filter works for this specific case where the items are not modified. But in many cases when you use map you want to make some modification to the items passed.

if that is your intent, you can use reduce:

var arr = ['a','b',1];
var results = arr.reduce((results, item) => {
    if (typeof item === 'string') results.push(modify(item)) // modify is a fictitious function that would apply some change to the items in the array
    return results
}, [])