[javascript] Does JavaScript have a method like "range()" to generate a range within the supplied bounds?

In PHP, you can do...

range(1, 3); // Array(1, 2, 3)
range("A", "C"); // Array("A", "B", "C")

That is, there is a function that lets you get a range of numbers or characters by passing the upper and lower bounds.

Is there anything built-in to JavaScript natively for this? If not, how would I implement it?

Keeping it simple:

// Generator
function* iter(a, b, step = 1) {
  for (let i = b ? a : 0; i < (b || a); i += step) {
    yield i
  }
}

const range = (a, b, step = 1) =>
  typeof a === 'string'
    ? [...iter(a.charCodeAt(), b.charCodeAt() + 1)].map(n => String.fromCharCode(n))
    : [...iter(a, b, step)]

range(4) // [0, 1, 2, 3]
range(1, 4) // [1, 2, 3]
range(2, 20, 3) // [2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17]
range('A', 'C') // ['A', 'B', 'C']

range(start,end,step): With ES6 Iterators

You only ask for an upper and lower bounds. Here we create one with a step too.

You can easily create range() generator function which can function as an iterator. This means you don't have to pre-generate the entire array.

function * range ( start, end, step = 1 ) {
  let state = start;
  while ( state < end ) {
    yield state;
    state += step;
  }
  return;
};

Now you may want to create something that pre-generates the array from the iterator and returns a list. This is useful for functions that accept an array. For this we can use Array.from()

const generate_array = (start,end,step) =>
  Array.from( range(start,end,step) );

Now you can generate a static array easily,

const array1 = generate_array(1,10,2);
const array1 = generate_array(1,7);

But when something desires an iterator (or gives you the option to use an iterator) you can easily create one too.

for ( const i of range(1, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER, 7) ) {
  console.log(i)
}

Special Notes

• If you use Ramda, they have their own R.range as does Lodash

Simple range function:

function range(start, stop, step) {
    var a = [start], b = start;
    while (b < stop) {
        a.push(b += step || 1);
    }
    return a;
}

To incorporate the BigInt data type some check can be included, ensuring that all variables are same typeof start:

function range(start, stop, step) {
    var a = [start], b = start;
    if (typeof start == 'bigint') {
        stop = BigInt(stop)
        step = step? BigInt(step): 1n;
    } else
        step = step || 1;
    while (b < stop) {
        a.push(b += step);
    }
    return a;
}

To remove values higher than defined by stop e.g. range(0,5,2) will include 6, which shouldn't be.

function range(start, stop, step) {
    var a = [start], b = start;
    while (b < stop) {
        a.push(b += step || 1);
    }
    return (b > stop) ? a.slice(0,-1) : a;
}

Array.range = function(a, b, step){
    var A = [];
    if(typeof a == 'number'){
        A[0] = a;
        step = step || 1;
        while(a+step <= b){
            A[A.length]= a+= step;
        }
    }
    else {
        var s = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz';
        if(a === a.toUpperCase()){
            b = b.toUpperCase();
            s = s.toUpperCase();
        }
        s = s.substring(s.indexOf(a), s.indexOf(b)+ 1);
        A = s.split('');        
    }
    return A;
}
    
    
Array.range(0,10);
// [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
    
Array.range(-100,100,20);
// [-100,-80,-60,-40,-20,0,20,40,60,80,100]
    
Array.range('A','F');
// ['A','B','C','D','E','F')
    
Array.range('m','r');
// ['m','n','o','p','q','r']

A rather minimalistic implementation that heavily employs ES6 can be created as follows, drawing particular attention to the Array.from() static method:

const getRange = (start, stop) => Array.from(
  new Array((stop - start) + 1),
  (_, i) => i + start
);

My take using conditional ternary operators in the for loop (no argument testing, though).

function range(start,end,step){
   var resar = [];
   for (var i=start;(step<0 ? i>=end:i<=end); i += (step == undefined ? 1:step)){
       resar.push(i);
     };
   return resar;
};

In order to work where either given number could be larger I wrote this:

function getRange(start, end) {
  return Array.from({
    length: 1 + Math.abs(end - start)
  }, (_, i) => end > start ? start + i : start - i);
}

you can use lodash function _.range(10) https://lodash.com/docs#range

This one works also in reverse.

const range = ( a , b ) => Array.from( new Array( b > a ? b - a : a - b ), ( x, i ) => b > a ? i + a : a - i );

range( -3, 2 ); // [ -3, -2, -1, 0, 1 ]
range( 1, -4 ); // [ 1, 0, -1, -2, -3 ]

I found a JS range function equivalent to the one in PHP, and works amazingly great here. Works forward & backward, and works with integers, floats and alphabets!

function range(low, high, step) {
  //  discuss at: http://phpjs.org/functions/range/
  // original by: Waldo Malqui Silva
  //   example 1: range ( 0, 12 );
  //   returns 1: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
  //   example 2: range( 0, 100, 10 );
  //   returns 2: [0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100]
  //   example 3: range( 'a', 'i' );
  //   returns 3: ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'h', 'i']
  //   example 4: range( 'c', 'a' );
  //   returns 4: ['c', 'b', 'a']

  var matrix = [];
  var inival, endval, plus;
  var walker = step || 1;
  var chars = false;

  if (!isNaN(low) && !isNaN(high)) {
    inival = low;
    endval = high;
  } else if (isNaN(low) && isNaN(high)) {
    chars = true;
    inival = low.charCodeAt(0);
    endval = high.charCodeAt(0);
  } else {
    inival = (isNaN(low) ? 0 : low);
    endval = (isNaN(high) ? 0 : high);
  }

  plus = ((inival > endval) ? false : true);
  if (plus) {
    while (inival <= endval) {
      matrix.push(((chars) ? String.fromCharCode(inival) : inival));
      inival += walker;
    }
  } else {
    while (inival >= endval) {
      matrix.push(((chars) ? String.fromCharCode(inival) : inival));
      inival -= walker;
    }
  }

  return matrix;
}

And here is the minified version:

function range(h,c,b){var i=[];var d,f,e;var a=b||1;var g=false;if(!isNaN(h)&&!isNaN(c)){d=h;f=c}else{if(isNaN(h)&&isNaN(c)){g=true;d=h.charCodeAt(0);f=c.charCodeAt(0)}else{d=(isNaN(h)?0:h);f=(isNaN(c)?0:c)}}e=((d>f)?false:true);if(e){while(d<=f){i.push(((g)?String.fromCharCode(d):d));d+=a}}else{while(d>=f){i.push(((g)?String.fromCharCode(d):d));d-=a}}return i};

Coded to 2010 specs (ya, it is 2016 with ES6 generators). Here's my take, with options to emulate the Python's range() function.

Array.range = function(start, end, step){
    if (start == undefined) { return [] } // "undefined" check

    if ( (step === 0) )  {  return []; // vs. throw TypeError("Invalid 'step' input")
    }  // "step" == 0  check

    if (typeof start == 'number') { // number check
        if (typeof end == 'undefined') { // single argument input
            end = start;
            start = 0;
            step = 1;
        }
        if ((!step) || (typeof step != 'number')) {
          step = end < start ? -1 : 1;
        }

        var length = Math.max(Math.ceil((end - start) / step), 0);
        var out = Array(length);

        for (var idx = 0; idx < length; idx++, start += step) {
          out[idx] = start;
        }

        // Uncomment to check "end" in range() output, non pythonic
        if ( (out[out.length-1] + step) == end ) { // "end" check
            out.push(end)
        }

    } else { 
        // Historical: '&' is the 27th letter: http://nowiknow.com/and-the-27th-letter-of-the-alphabet/
        // Axiom: 'a' < 'z' and 'z' < 'A'
        // note: 'a' > 'A' == true ("small a > big A", try explaining it to a kid! )

        var st = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ&'; // axiom ordering

        if (typeof end == 'undefined') { // single argument input
            end = start;
            start = 'a';
        }

        var first = st.indexOf(start);
        var last = st.indexOf(end);

        if ((!step) || (typeof step != 'number')) {
          step = last < first ? -1 : 1;
        }

        if ((first == -1) || (last == -1 )) { // check 'first' & 'last'
            return []
        }

        var length = Math.max(Math.ceil((last - first) / step), 0);
        var out = Array(length);

        for (var idx = 0; idx < length; idx++, first += step) {
          out[idx] = st[first];
        } 

        // Uncomment to check "end" in range() output, non pythonic
        if ( (st.indexOf(out[out.length-1]) + step ) == last ) { // "end" check
            out.push(end)
        }
    }
    return out;
}

Example:

Array.range(5);       // [0,1,2,3,4,5]
Array.range(4,-4,-2); // [4, 2, 0, -2, -4]
Array.range('a','d'); // ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
Array.range('B','y'); // ["B", "A", "z", "y"], different from chr() ordering
Array.range('f');     // ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f"]
Array.range(-5);      // [], similar to python
Array.range(-5,0)     // [-5,-4-,-3-,-2,-1,0]

Per my understanding:

• JS' runtime environment doesn't support Tail Call Optimization. Writing any recursive function to generate a large range is going to bring you here.
• Creating arrays for looping might not be the best thing to do if we are going to work with large numbers.
• Writing large loops causes the event queue to slow down.

function range(start, end, step = 1) {
  const _range = _start => f => {
    if (_start < end) {
      f(_start);
      setTimeout(() => _range(_start + step)(f), 0);
    }
  }

  return {
    map: _range(start),
  };
}

range(0, 50000).map(console.log);

This function doesn't raise the aforementioned concerns.

For letters, he's a simple vanilla JS solution I came up with to generate letter ranges. It's intended to generate arrays of upper- or lowercase letters, only.

function range(first, last) {_x000D_
    var r = [],_x000D_
        i = first.charCodeAt(0);_x000D_
    _x000D_
    while(i <= last.charCodeAt(0)) {_x000D_
        r.push(String.fromCharCode(i++));_x000D_
    }_x000D_
    _x000D_
    return r;_x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
console.dir(range("a", "f"));_x000D_
console.dir(range("G", "Z"));

Array.from(Array((m - n + 1)), (v, i) => n + i); // m > n and both of them are integers.

Use this. It creates an array with given amount of values (undefined), in the following example there are 100 indexes, but it is not relevant as here you need only the keys. It uses in the array, 100 + 1, because the arrays are always 0 index based. So if it's given 100 values to generate, the index starts from 0; hence the last value is always 99 not 100.

range(2, 100);

function range(start, end) {
    console.log([...Array(end + 1).keys()].filter(value => end >= value && start <= value ));
}

If we input something like [4, 2], we’ll get [2, 3, 4] as output, we can work with that.

function createRange(array) {
  var range = [];
  var highest = array.reduce(function(a, b) {
    return Math.max(a, b);
  });
  var lowest = array.reduce(function(a, b) {
    return Math.min(a, b);
  });
  for (var i = lowest; i <= highest; i++) {
    range.push(i);
  }
  return range;
}

There's an npm module bereich for that ("bereich" is the German word for "range"). It makes use of modern JavaScript's iterators, so you can use it in various ways, such as:

console.log(...bereich(1, 10));
// => 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

const numbers = Array.from(bereich(1, 10));
// => [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

for (const number of bereich(1, 10)) {
  // ...
}

It also supports descending ranges (by simply exchanging min and max), and it also supports steps other than 1.

Disclaimer: I am the author of this module, so please take my answer with a grain of salt.

A recursive solution to generating integer array within bounds.

function intSequence(start, end, n = start, arr = []) {
  return (n === end) ? arr.concat(n)
    : intSequence(start, end, start < end ? n + 1 : n - 1, arr.concat(n));
}

$> intSequence(1, 1)
<- Array [ 1 ]

$> intSequence(1, 3)
<- Array(3) [ 1, 2, 3 ]

$> intSequence(3, -3)
<- Array(7) [ 3, 2, 1, 0, -1, -2, -3 ]

An interesting challenge would be to write the shortest function to do this. Recursion to the rescue!

function r(a,b){return a>b?[]:[a].concat(r(++a,b))}

Tends to be slow on large ranges, but luckily quantum computers are just around the corner.

An added bonus is that it's obfuscatory. Because we all know how important it is to hide our code from prying eyes.

To truly and utterly obfuscate the function, do this:

function r(a,b){return (a<b?[a,b].concat(r(++a,--b)):a>b?[]:[a]).sort(function(a,b){return a-b})}

Here is a definition of a range function that behaves exactly like Python's range type except that this one is not lazy. It should be easy to turn it into a generator.

The arguments to the range constructor must be numbers. If the step argument is omitted, it defaults to 1. If the start argument is omitted, it defaults to 0. If step is zero, an error is raised.

range = (start, stop, step=1) => {
    if(step === 0) throw new Error("range() arg 3 must not be zero");

    const noStart = stop == null;
    stop = noStart ? start : stop;
    start = noStart ? 0 : start;
    const length = Math.ceil(((stop - start) / step));

    return Array.from({length}, (_, i) => (i * step) + start);
}

console.log(range(-10, 10, 2));
//output [Array] [-10,-8,-6,-4,-2,0,2,4,6,8]
console.log(range(10));
// [Array] [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
console.log(3, 12);
// [Array] [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]

A range with a defined hard int has a ton of answers, but what if you don't know that step and you want a number of steps in-between instead?

I wrote this code to do that. It's pretty self-explanatory.

const stepScale = (min, max, numberOfSteps) => {
  const _numberOfSteps = numberOfSteps - 1
  const scaleBy = (max - min) / _numberOfSteps

  const arr = []
  for (let i = 0; i <= _numberOfSteps; i += 1) {
    arr.push(min + scaleBy * i)
  }
  return arr
}

export default stepScale

stepScale(5, 10, 4)
// [5, 6.666666666666667, 8.333333333333334, 10]

For npm at https://npm.im/@universalstandard/step-scale

Here is my solution that mimics Python. At the bottom you can find some examples how to use it. It works with numbers, just like Python's range:

var assert = require('assert');    // if you use Node, otherwise remove the asserts

var L = {};    // L, i.e. 'list'

// range(start, end, step)
L.range = function (a, b, c) {
    assert(arguments.length >= 1 && arguments.length <= 3);
    if (arguments.length === 3) {
        assert(c != 0);
    }

    var li = [],
        i,
        start, end, step,
        up = true;    // Increasing or decreasing order? Default: increasing.

    if (arguments.length === 1) {
        start = 0;
        end = a;
        step = 1;
    }

    if (arguments.length === 2) {
        start = a;
        end = b;
        step = 1;
    }

    if (arguments.length === 3) {
        start = a;
        end = b;
        step = c;
        if (c < 0) {
            up = false;
        }
    }

    if (up) {
        for (i = start; i < end; i += step) {
            li.push(i);
        }
    } else {
        for (i = start; i > end; i += step) {
            li.push(i);
        }
    }

    return li;
}

Examples:

// range
L.range(0) -> []
L.range(1) -> [0]
L.range(2) -> [0, 1]
L.range(5) -> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]

L.range(1, 5) -> [1, 2, 3, 4]
L.range(6, 4) -> []
L.range(-2, 2) -> [-2, -1, 0, 1]

L.range(1, 5, 1) -> [1, 2, 3, 4]
L.range(0, 10, 2) -> [0, 2, 4, 6, 8]
L.range(10, 2, -1) -> [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3]
L.range(10, 2, -2) -> [10, 8, 6, 4]

Here is a simple approach based on @benmcdonald and others, more than one line though...

let K = [];_x000D_
for (i = 'A'.charCodeAt(0); i <= 'Z'.charCodeAt(0); i++) {_x000D_
  K.push(String.fromCharCode(i))_x000D_
};_x000D_
console.log(K);

Handy function to do the trick, run the code snippet below

function range(start, end, step, offset) {_x000D_
  _x000D_
  var len = (Math.abs(end - start) + ((offset || 0) * 2)) / (step || 1) + 1;_x000D_
  var direction = start < end ? 1 : -1;_x000D_
  var startingPoint = start - (direction * (offset || 0));_x000D_
  var stepSize = direction * (step || 1);_x000D_
  _x000D_
  return Array(len).fill(0).map(function(_, index) {_x000D_
    return startingPoint + (stepSize * index);_x000D_
  });_x000D_
  _x000D_
}_x000D_
_x000D_
console.log('range(1, 5)=> ' + range(1, 5));_x000D_
console.log('range(5, 1)=> ' + range(5, 1));_x000D_
console.log('range(5, 5)=> ' + range(5, 5));_x000D_
console.log('range(-5, 5)=> ' + range(-5, 5));_x000D_
console.log('range(-10, 5, 5)=> ' + range(-10, 5, 5));_x000D_
console.log('range(1, 5, 1, 2)=> ' + range(1, 5, 1, 2));

here is how to use it

range (Start, End, Step=1, Offset=0);

• inclusive - forward range(5,10) // [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
• inclusive - backward range(10,5) // [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5]
• step - backward range(10,2,2) // [10, 8, 6, 4, 2]
• exclusive - forward range(5,10,0,-1) // [6, 7, 8, 9] not 5,10 themselves
• offset - expand range(5,10,0,1) // [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]
• offset - shrink range(5,10,0,-2) // [7, 8]
• step - expand range(10,0,2,2) // [12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0, -2]

hope you find it useful.

And here is how it works.

Basically I'm first calculating the length of the resulting array and create a zero filled array to that length, then fill it with the needed values

• (step || 1) => And others like this means use the value of step and if it was not provided use 1 instead
• We start by calculating the length of the result array using (Math.abs(end - start) + ((offset || 0) * 2)) / (step || 1) + 1) to put it simpler (difference* offset in both direction/step)
• After getting the length, then we create an empty array with initialized values using new Array(length).fill(0); check here
• Now we have an array [0,0,0,..] to the length we want. We map over it and return a new array with the values we need by using Array.map(function() {})
• var direction = start < end ? 1 : 0; Obviously if start is not smaller than the end we need to move backward. I mean going from 0 to 5 or vice versa
• On every iteration, startingPoint + stepSize * index will gives us the value we need

--- UPDATE (Thanks to @lokhmakov for simplification) ---

Another version using ES6 generators ( see great Paolo Moretti answer with ES6 generators ):

const RANGE = (x,y) => Array.from((function*(){
  while (x <= y) yield x++;
})());

console.log(RANGE(3,7));  // [ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ]

Or, if we only need iterable, then:

const RANGE_ITER = (x,y) => (function*(){
  while (x <= y) yield x++;
})();

for (let n of RANGE_ITER(3,7)){
  console.log(n);
}

// 3
// 4
// 5
// 6
// 7

--- ORGINAL code was: ---

const RANGE = (a,b) => Array.from((function*(x,y){
  while (x <= y) yield x++;
})(a,b));

and

const RANGE_ITER = (a,b) => (function*(x,y){
  while (x <= y) yield x++;
})(a,b);

You can also do the following:

const range = Array.from(Array(size)).map((el, idx) => idx+1).slice(begin, end);

One liner that can work in either direction:

const range = (a,b)=>Array(Math.abs(a-b)+1).fill(a).map((v,i)=>v+i*(a>b?-1:1));

See in action:

const range = (a,b) => Array(Math.abs(a-b)+1).fill(a).map((v,i)=>v+i*(a>b?-1:1));

console.log(range(1,4));
console.log(range(4,1));

Pythonic styled way:

range = (start, end, step) => {
let arr = []
for(let n=start;n<end;n+=(step||1)) arr.push(n)
return arr;
}

just made something like this as an exercise in Eloquent JavaScript

function range(start, end, step) {
  var ar = [];
  if (start < end) {
    if (arguments.length == 2) step = 1;
    for (var i = start; i <= end; i += step) {
      ar.push(i);
    }
  }
  else {
    if (arguments.length == 2) step = -1;
    for (var i = start; i >= end; i += step) {
      ar.push(i);
    }
  }
  return ar;
}

Complete ES6 implementation using range([start, ]stop[, step]) signature:

function range(start, stop, step=1){
  if(!stop){stop=start;start=0;}
  return Array.from(new Array(int((stop-start)/step)), (x,i) => start+ i*step)
}

If you want automatic negative stepping, add

if(stop<start)step=-Math.abs(step)

Or more minimalistically:

range=(b, e, step=1)=>{
  if(!e){e=b;b=0}
  return Array.from(new Array(int((e-b)/step)), (_,i) => b<e? b+i*step : b-i*step)
}

If you have huge ranges look at Paolo Moretti's generator approach

d3 also has a built-in range function. See https://github.com/mbostock/d3/wiki/Arrays#d3_range:

d3.range([start, ]stop[, step])

Generates an array containing an arithmetic progression, similar to the Python built-in range. This method is often used to iterate over a sequence of numeric or integer values, such as the indexes into an array. Unlike the Python version, the arguments are not required to be integers, though the results are more predictable if they are due to floating point precision. If step is omitted, it defaults to 1.

Example:

d3.range(10)
// returns [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

function check(){

    var correct=true;

    for(var i=0; i<arguments.length; i++){

    if(typeof arguments[i] != "number"){

    correct=false;  } } return correct; }   

//------------------------------------------

 function range(start,step,end){

  var correct=check(start,step,end);

  if(correct && (step && end)!=0){ 

  for(var i=start; i<=end; i+=step)

  document.write(i+" "); }

  else document.write("Not Correct Data"); }

https://stackoverflow.com/a/49577331/8784402

With Delta/Step

[...Array(N)].map((_, i) => from + i * step);

Examples and other alternatives

[...Array(10)].map((_, i) => 4 + i * 2);
//=> [4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22]

Array.from(Array(10)).map((_, i) => 4 + i * 2);
//=> [4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22]

Array.from(Array(10).keys()).map(i => 4 + i * 2);
//=> [4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22]

[...Array(10).keys()].map(i => 4 + i * -2);
//=> [4, 2, 0, -2, -4, -6, -8, -10, -12, -14]

Array(10).fill(0).map((_, i) => 4 + i * 2);
//=> [4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22]

Array(10).fill().map((_, i) => 4 + i * -2);
//=> [4, 2, 0, -2, -4, -6, -8, -10, -12, -14]

const range = (from, to, step) =>
  [...Array(Math.floor((to - from) / step) + 1)].map((_, i) => from + i * step);

range(0, 9, 2);
//=> [0, 2, 4, 6, 8]

// can also assign range function as static method in Array class (but not recommended )
Array.range = (from, to, step) =>
  [...Array(Math.floor((to - from) / step) + 1)].map((_, i) => from + i * step);

Array.range(2, 10, 2);
//=> [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]

Array.range(0, 10, 1);
//=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Array.range(2, 10, -1);
//=> []

Array.range(3, 0, -1);
//=> [3, 2, 1, 0]

class Range {
  constructor(total = 0, step = 1, from = 0) {
    this[Symbol.iterator] = function* () {
      for (let i = 0; i < total; yield from + i++ * step) {}
    };
  }
}

[...new Range(5)]; // Five Elements
//=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]
[...new Range(5, 2)]; // Five Elements With Step 2
//=> [0, 2, 4, 6, 8]
[...new Range(5, -2, 10)]; // Five Elements With Step -2 From 10
//=>[10, 8, 6, 4, 2]
[...new Range(5, -2, -10)]; // Five Elements With Step -2 From -10
//=> [-10, -12, -14, -16, -18]

// Also works with for..of loop
for (i of new Range(5, -2, 10)) console.log(i);
// 10 8 6 4 2

const Range = function* (total = 0, step = 1, from = 0) {
  for (let i = 0; i < total; yield from + i++ * step) {}
};

Array.from(Range(5, -2, -10));
//=> [-10, -12, -14, -16, -18]

[...Range(5, -2, -10)]; // Five Elements With Step -2 From -10
//=> [-10, -12, -14, -16, -18]

// Also works with for..of loop
for (i of Range(5, -2, 10)) console.log(i);
// 10 8 6 4 2

// Lazy loaded way
const number0toInf = Range(Infinity);
number0toInf.next().value;
//=> 0
number0toInf.next().value;
//=> 1
// ...

From-To with steps/delta

class Range2 {
  constructor(to = 0, step = 1, from = 0) {
    this[Symbol.iterator] = function* () {
      let i = 0,
        length = Math.floor((to - from) / step) + 1;
      while (i < length) yield from + i++ * step;
    };
  }
}
[...new Range2(5)]; // First 5 Whole Numbers
//=> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

[...new Range2(5, 2)]; // From 0 to 5 with step 2
//=> [0, 2, 4]

[...new Range2(5, -2, 10)]; // From 10 to 5 with step -2
//=> [10, 8, 6]

const Range2 = function* (to = 0, step = 1, from = 0) {
  let i = 0,
    length = Math.floor((to - from) / step) + 1;
  while (i < length) yield from + i++ * step;
};

[...Range2(5, -2, 10)]; // From 10 to 5 with step -2
//=> [10, 8, 6]

let even4to10 = Range2(10, 2, 4);
even4to10.next().value;
//=> 4
even4to10.next().value;
//=> 6
even4to10.next().value;
//=> 8
even4to10.next().value;
//=> 10
even4to10.next().value;
//=> undefined

For Typescript

class _Array<T> extends Array<T> {
  static range(from: number, to: number, step: number): number[] {
    return Array.from(Array(Math.floor((to - from) / step) + 1)).map(
      (v, k) => from + k * step
    );
  }
}
_Array.range(0, 9, 1);

https://stackoverflow.com/a/64599169/8784402

Generate Character List with one-liner

const charList = (a,z,d=1)=>(a=a.charCodeAt(),z=z.charCodeAt(),[...Array(Math.floor((z-a)/d)+1)].map((_,i)=>String.fromCharCode(a+i*d)));

console.log("from A to G", charList('A', 'G'));
console.log("from A to Z with step/delta of 2", charList('A', 'Z', 2));
console.log("reverse order from Z to P", charList('Z', 'P', -1));
console.log("from 0 to 5", charList('0', '5', 1));
console.log("from 9 to 5", charList('9', '5', -1));
console.log("from 0 to 8 with step 2", charList('0', '8', 2));
console.log("from a to ?", charList('a', '?'));
console.log("Hindi characters from ? to ?", charList('?', '?'));
console.log("Russian characters from ? to ?", charList('?', '?'));

const charList = (p: string, q: string, d = 1) => {
  const a = p.charCodeAt(0),
    z = q.charCodeAt(0);
  return [...Array(Math.floor((z - a) / d) + 1)].map((_, i) =>
    String.fromCharCode(a + i * d)
  );
};

The standard Javascript doesn't have a built-in function to generate ranges. Several javascript frameworks add support for such features, or as others have pointed out you can always roll your own.

If you'd like to double-check, the definitive resource is the ECMA-262 Standard.

OK, in JavaScript we don't have a range() function like PHP, so we need to create the function which is quite easy thing, I write couple of one-line functions for you and separate them for Numbers and Alphabets as below:

for Numbers:

function numberRange (start, end) {
  return new Array(end - start).fill().map((d, i) => i + start);
}

and call it like:

numberRange(5, 10); //[5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

for Alphabets:

function alphabetRange (start, end) {
  return new Array(end.charCodeAt(0) - start.charCodeAt(0)).fill().map((d, i) => String.fromCharCode(i + start.charCodeAt(0)));
}

and call it like:

alphabetRange('c', 'h'); //["c", "d", "e", "f", "g"]

var range = (l,r) => new Array(r - l).fill().map((_,k) => k + l);

Not implemented yet!

Using the new Number.range proposal (stage 1):

[...Number.range(1, 10)]
//=> [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

For numbers you can use ES6 Array.from(), which works in everything these days except IE:

Shorter version:

Array.from({length: 20}, (x, i) => i);

Longer version:

Array.from(new Array(20), (x, i) => i);??????

which creates an array from 0 to 19 inclusive. This can be further shortened to one of these forms:

Array.from(Array(20).keys());
// or
[...Array(20).keys()];

Lower and upper bounds can be specified too, for example:

Array.from(new Array(20), (x, i) => i + *lowerBound*);

An article describing this in more detail: http://www.2ality.com/2014/05/es6-array-methods.html

You can use a function with an array, a for loop, and a Math.random() variable to solve that. The for loop pushes numbers into the array, which will contain all the numbers in your range. Then the Math.random() randomly selects one, based on the array's length.

function randNumInRange(min, max) {
  var range = []
  for(var count = min; count <= max; count++) {
    range.push(count);
  }
  var randNum = Math.floor(Math.random() * range.length);
  alert(range[randNum]);
}

My personal favorite:

const range = (start, end) => new Array(end-start+1).map((el, ind) => ind + start);

There isn't a native method. But you can do it with filter method of Array.

var range = (array, start, end) =>_x000D_
      array.filter((element, index)=>index>=start && index <= end)_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_
alert( range(['a','h','e','l','l','o','s'],1,5) )_x000D_
// ['h','e','l','l','o']

For a more ruby-like approach with good backward compatibility:

range([begin], end = 0) where begin and end are numbers

var range = function(begin, end) {
  if (typeof end === "undefined") {
    end = begin; begin = 0;
  }
  var result = [], modifier = end > begin ? 1 : -1;
  for ( var i = 0; i <= Math.abs(end - begin); i++ ) {
    result.push(begin + i * modifier);
  }
  return result;
}

Examples:

range(3); //=> [0, 1, 2, 3]
range(-2); //=> [0, -1, -2]
range(1, 2) //=> [1, 2]
range(1, -2); //=> [1, 0, -1, -2]

I prefer the way below

var range = function(x, y) {_x000D_
    return Array(y - x+1).fill(x).map((a, b) => {return a+b}).filter(i => i >= x);_x000D_
};_x000D_
console.log(range(3, 10));

I would like to add what I would think is a very adjustable version, which is very fast.

const range = (start, end) => {
    let all = [];
    if (typeof start === "string" && typeof end === "string") {
        // Return the range of characters using utf-8 least to greatest
        const s = start.charCodeAt(0);
        const e = end.charCodeAt(0);
        for (let i = s; i <= e; i++) {
            all.push(String.fromCharCode(i));
        }
    } else if (typeof start === "number" && typeof end === "number") {
        // Return the range of numbers from least to greatest
        for(let i = end; i >= start; i--) {
            all.push(i);
        }
    } else {
        throw new Error("Did not supply matching types number or string.");
    }
    return all;
}
// usage
const aTod = range("a", "d");

Also Typescript if you would like

const range = (start: string | number, end: string | number): string[] | number[] => {
    const all: string[] | number[] = [];
    if (typeof start === "string" && typeof end === "string") {
        const s: number = start.charCodeAt(0);
        const e: number = end.charCodeAt(0);
        for (let i = s; i <= e; i++) {
            all.push(String.fromCharCode(i));
        }
    } else if (typeof start === "number" && typeof end === "number") {
        for (let i = end; i >= start; i--) {
            all.push(i);
        }
    } else {
        throw new Error("Did not supply matching types number or string.");
    }
    return all;
}
// Usage
const negTenToten: number[] = range(-10, 10) as number[];

Made with some influence from other answers. User is gone now.

My new favorite form (ES2015)

Array(10).fill(1).map((x, y) => x + y)

And if you need a function with a step param:

const range = (start, stop, step = 1) =>
  Array(Math.ceil((stop - start) / step)).fill(start).map((x, y) => x + y * step)

I was surprised to come across this thread and see nothing like my solution (maybe I missed an answer), so here it is. I use a simple range function in ES6 syntax :

// [begin, end[
const range = (b, e) => Array.apply(null, Array(e - b)).map((_, i) => {return i+b;});

But it works only when counting forward (ie. begin < end), so we can modify it slightly when needed like so :

const range = (b, e) => Array.apply(null, Array(Math.abs(e - b))).map((_, i) => {return b < e ? i+b : b-i;});

// range()              0..10, step=1
// range(max)           0..max, step=1
// range(min,max)       min..max, step=1
// range(min,step,max)  min..max, step=step
// Use:
// console.log(...range(3));
// Array.from(range(5))
// [...range(100)]
// for (const v of range(1,10)) { ... 

function* range(...args) {
    let [min, step, max] = {
        0: [0, 1, 10],
        1: [0, args[0] >= 0 ? 1 : -1, args[0]],
        2: [args[0], args[1] >= args[0] ? 1 : -1, args[1]],
        3: args,
    }[args.length] || [];
    if (min === undefined) throw new SyntaxError("Too many arguments");
    let x = min;
    while (step >= 0 ? x < max : x > max) {
        yield x;
        x += step
    }
}
console.log(...range());      // 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
console.log(...range(3));     // 0 1 2
console.log(...range(2, 5));  // 2 3 4
console.log(...range(5, 2));  // 5 4 3
console.log(...range(3, -3)); // 3 2 1 0 -1 -2
console.log(...range(-3, 3)); // -3 -2 -1 0 1 2
console.log(...range(-5, -2));// -5 -4 -3
console.log(...range(-2, -5));// -2 -3 -4

As far as generating a numeric array for a given range, I use this:

function range(start, stop)
{
    var array = [];

    var length = stop - start; 

    for (var i = 0; i <= length; i++) { 
        array[i] = start;
        start++;
    }

    return array;
}

console.log(range(1, 7));  // [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
console.log(range(5, 10)); // [5,6,7,8,9,10]
console.log(range(-2, 3)); // [-2,-1,0,1,2,3]

Obviously, it won't work for alphabetical arrays.

This is what I use for numbers ranges:

const rangeFrom0 = end => [...Array(end)].map((_, index) => index);

or

const rangeExcEnd = (start, step, end) => [...Array(end - start + 1)]
   .map((_, index) => index + start)
   .filter(x => x % step === start % step);

Numbers

[...Array(5).keys()];
 => [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]

Character iteration

String.fromCharCode(...[...Array('D'.charCodeAt(0) - 'A'.charCodeAt(0) + 1).keys()].map(i => i + 'A'.charCodeAt(0)));
 => "ABCD"

Iteration

for (const x of Array(5).keys()) {
  console.log(x, String.fromCharCode('A'.charCodeAt(0) + x));
}
 => 0,"A" 1,"B" 2,"C" 3,"D" 4,"E"

As functions

function range(size, startAt = 0) {
    return [...Array(size).keys()].map(i => i + startAt);
}

function characterRange(startChar, endChar) {
    return String.fromCharCode(...range(endChar.charCodeAt(0) -
            startChar.charCodeAt(0), startChar.charCodeAt(0)))
}

As typed functions

function range(size:number, startAt:number = 0):ReadonlyArray<number> {
    return [...Array(size).keys()].map(i => i + startAt);
}

function characterRange(startChar:string, endChar:string):ReadonlyArray<string> {
    return String.fromCharCode(...range(endChar.charCodeAt(0) -
            startChar.charCodeAt(0), startChar.charCodeAt(0)))
}

lodash.js _.range() function

_.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]
String.fromCharCode(..._.range('A'.charCodeAt(0), 'D'.charCodeAt(0) + 1));
 => "ABCD"

Old non es6 browsers without a library:

Array.apply(null, Array(5)).map(function (_, i) {return i;});
 => [0, 1, 2, 3, 4]

console.log([...Array(5).keys()]);

(ES6 credit to nils petersohn and other commenters)

You can use lodash or Undescore.js range:

var range = require('lodash/range')
range(10)
// -> [ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ]

Alternatively, if you only need a consecutive range of integers you can do something like:

Array.apply(undefined, { length: 10 }).map(Number.call, Number)
// -> [ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ]

In ES6 range can be implemented with generators:

function* range(start=0, end=null, step=1) {
  if (end == null) {
    end = start;
    start = 0;
  }

  for (let i=start; i < end; i+=step) {
    yield i;
  }
}

This implementation saves memory when iterating large sequences, because it doesn't have to materialize all values into an array:

for (let i of range(1, oneZillion)) {
  console.log(i);
}

Using Harmony generators, supported by all browsers except IE11:

var take = function (amount, generator) {
    var a = [];

    try {
        while (amount) {
            a.push(generator.next());
            amount -= 1;
        }
    } catch (e) {}

    return a;
};

var takeAll = function (gen) {
    var a = [],
        x;

    try {
        do {
            x = a.push(gen.next());
        } while (x);
    } catch (e) {}

    return a;
};

var range = (function (d) {
    var unlimited = (typeof d.to === "undefined");

    if (typeof d.from === "undefined") {
        d.from = 0;
    }

    if (typeof d.step === "undefined") {
        if (unlimited) {
            d.step = 1;
        }
    } else {
        if (typeof d.from !== "string") {
            if (d.from < d.to) {
                d.step = 1;
            } else {
                d.step = -1;
            }
        } else {
            if (d.from.charCodeAt(0) < d.to.charCodeAt(0)) {
                d.step = 1;
            } else {
                d.step = -1;
            }
        }
    }

    if (typeof d.from === "string") {
        for (let i = d.from.charCodeAt(0); (d.step > 0) ? (unlimited ? true : i <= d.to.charCodeAt(0)) : (i >= d.to.charCodeAt(0)); i += d.step) {
            yield String.fromCharCode(i);
        }
    } else {
        for (let i = d.from; (d.step > 0) ? (unlimited ? true : i <= d.to) : (i >= d.to); i += d.step) {
            yield i;
        }
    }
});

Examples

take

Example 1.

take only takes as much as it can get

take(10, range( {from: 100, step: 5, to: 120} ) )

returns

[100, 105, 110, 115, 120]

Example 2.

to not neccesary

take(10, range( {from: 100, step: 5} ) )

returns

[100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145]

takeAll

Example 3.

from not neccesary

takeAll( range( {to: 5} ) )

returns

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Example 4.

takeAll( range( {to: 500, step: 100} ) )

returns

[0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500]

Example 5.

takeAll( range( {from: 'z', to: 'a'} ) )

returns

["z", "y", "x", "w", "v", "u", "t", "s", "r", "q", "p", "o", "n", "m", "l", "k", "j", "i", "h", "g", "f", "e", "d", "c", "b", "a"]

I would code something like this:

function range(start, end) {
    return Array(end-start).join(0).split(0).map(function(val, id) {return id+start});
}  

range(-4,2);
// [-4,-3,-2,-1,0,1]

range(3,9);
// [3,4,5,6,7,8]

It behaves similarly to Python range:

>>> range(-4,2)
[-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1]

Using Harmony spread operator and arrow functions:

var range = (start, end) => [...Array(end - start + 1)].map((_, i) => start + i);

Example:

range(10, 15);
[ 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ]

Here's a nice short way to do it in ES6 with numbers only (don't know its speed compares):

Array.prototype.map.call(' '.repeat(1 + upper - lower), (v, i) => i + lower)

For a range of single characters, you can slightly modify it:

Array.prototype.map.call(' '.repeat(1 + upper.codePointAt() - lower.codePointAt()), (v, i) => String.fromCodePoint(i + lower.codePointAt()));

My codegolfing coworker came up with this (ES6), inclusive:

(s,f)=>[...Array(f-s+1)].map((e,i)=>i+s)

non inclusive:

(s,f)=>[...Array(f-s)].map((e,i)=>i+s)

I just created this polyfill on the Array via Object.defineProperty to make a range for integers or strings. The Object.defineProperty is a safer way to create polyfills.

The safer polyfill

if (!Array.range) {
  Object.defineProperty(Array, 'range', {
    value: function (from, to, step) {
      if (typeof from !== 'number' && typeof from !== 'string') {
        throw new TypeError('The first parameter should be a number or a character')
      }

      if (typeof to !== 'number' && typeof to !== 'string') {
        throw new TypeError('The second parameter should be a number or a character')
      }

      var A = []
      if (typeof from === 'number') {
        A[0] = from
        step = step || 1
        while (from + step <= to) {
          A[A.length] = from += step
        }
      } else {
        var s = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'
        if (from === from.toUpperCase()) {
          to = to.toUpperCase()
          s = s.toUpperCase()
        }
        s = s.substring(s.indexOf(from), s.indexOf(to) + 1)
        A = s.split('')
      }
      return A
    }
  })
} else {
  var errorMessage = 'DANGER ALERT! Array.range has already been defined on this browser. '
  errorMessage += 'This may lead to unwanted results when Array.range() is executed.'
  console.log(errorMessage)
}

Examples

Array.range(1, 3)

// Return: [1, 2, 3]

Array.range(1, 3, 0.5)

// Return: [1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3]

Array.range('a', 'c')

// Return: ['a', 'b', 'c']

Array.range('A', 'C')

// Return: ['A', 'B', 'C']

Array.range(null)
Array.range(undefined)
Array.range(NaN)
Array.range(true)
Array.range([])
Array.range({})
Array.range(1, null)

// Return: Uncaught TypeError: The X parameter should be a number or a character

This may not be the best way. But if you are looking to get a range of numbers in a single line of code. For example 10 - 50

Array(40).fill(undefined).map((n, i) => i + 10)

Where 40 is (end - start) and 10 is the start. This should return [10, 11, ..., 50]

... more range, using a generator function.

function range(s, e, str){
  // create generator that handles numbers & strings.
  function *gen(s, e, str){
    while(s <= e){
      yield (!str) ? s : str[s]
      s++
    }
  }
  if (typeof s === 'string' && !str)
    str = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'
  const from = (!str) ? s : str.indexOf(s)
  const to = (!str) ? e : str.indexOf(e)
  // use the generator and return.
  return [...gen(from, to, str)]
}

// usage ...
console.log(range('l', 'w'))
//=> [ 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w' ]

console.log(range(7, 12))
//=> [ 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ]

// first 'o' to first 't' of passed in string.
console.log(range('o', 't', "ssshhhooooouuut!!!!"))
// => [ 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'u', 'u', 'u', 't' ]

// only lowercase args allowed here, but ...
console.log(range('m', 'v').map(v=>v.toUpperCase()))
//=> [ 'M', 'N', 'O', 'P', 'Q', 'R', 'S', 'T', 'U', 'V' ]

// => and decreasing range ...
console.log(range('m', 'v').map(v=>v.toUpperCase()).reverse())

// => ... and with a step
console.log(range('m', 'v')
          .map(v=>v.toUpperCase())
          .reverse()
          .reduce((acc, c, i) => (i % 2) ? acc.concat(c) : acc, []))

// ... etc, etc.

Hope this is useful.

You can use following one-liner to keep things short and simple

var start = 4;_x000D_
var end = 20;_x000D_
console.log(Array(end - start + 1).fill(start).map((x, y) => x + y));

Though this is not from PHP, but an imitation of range from Python.

function range(start, end) {
    var total = [];

    if (!end) {
        end = start;
        start = 0;
    }

    for (var i = start; i < end; i += 1) {
        total.push(i);
    }

    return total;
}

console.log(range(10)); // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] 
console.log(range(0, 10)); // [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
console.log(range(5, 10)); // [5, 6, 7, 8, 9] 

Here's my 2 cents:

function range(start, count) {
  return Array.apply(0, Array(count))
    .map((element, index) => index + start);
}

Did some research on some various Range Functions. Checkout the jsperf comparison of the different ways to do these functions. Certainly not a perfect or exhaustive list, but should help :)

The Winner is...

function range(lowEnd,highEnd){
    var arr = [],
    c = highEnd - lowEnd + 1;
    while ( c-- ) {
        arr[c] = highEnd--
    }
    return arr;
}
range(0,31);

Technically its not the fastest on firefox, but crazy speed difference (imho) on chrome makes up for it.

Also interesting observation is how much faster chrome is with these array functions than firefox. Chrome is at least 4 or 5 times faster.

Solution:

//best performance
var range = function(start, stop, step) {
    var a = [start];
    while (start < stop) {
        start += step || 1;
        a.push(start);
    }
    return a;
};

//or
var range = function(start, end) {
    return Array(++end-start).join(0).split(0).map(function(n, i) {
        return i+start
    });
}

None of the examples had tests, implementation for step with an option to produce decreasing values.

export function range(start = 0, end = 0, step = 1) {
    if (start === end || step === 0) {
        return [];
    }

    const diff = Math.abs(end - start);
    const length = Math.ceil(diff / step);

    return start > end
        ? Array.from({length}, (value, key) => start - key * step)
        : Array.from({length}, (value, key) => start + key * step);

}

Tests:

import range from './range'

describe('Range', () => {
    it('default', () => {
        expect(range()).toMatchObject([]);
    })

    it('same values', () => {
        expect(range(1,1)).toMatchObject([]);
    })

    it('step=0', () => {
        expect(range(0,1,0)).toMatchObject([]);
    })

    describe('step=1', () => {
        it('normal', () => {
            expect(range(6,12)).toMatchObject([6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]);
        })

        it('reversed', () => {
            expect(range(12,6)).toMatchObject([12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7]);
        })
    })

    describe('step=5', () => {

        it('start 0 end 60', () => {
            expect(range(0, 60, 5)).toMatchObject([0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55]);
        })

        it('reversed start 60 end -1', () => {
            expect(range(55, -1, 5)).toMatchObject([55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 0]);
        })
    })
})