findModeArray()

Step 1: Understand the Problem

Before we start coding, let's understand the problem we are trying to solve. We want to write a javascript function findModeArray() which will find the mode (most frequently occurring element) in an array. For this problem, we'll consider that the array can have both numbers and strings.

Step 2: Initialize Variables

We are going to start by defining the function findModeArray(). Create an empty object counts that will hold the count of each element in the array, and two variables mode and maxCount to keep track of the mode and its count.

function findModeArray(array) {
    let counts = {};
    let mode = '';
    let maxCount = 0;
}

Step 3: Counting Array Elements

Next, we'll use a forEach loop to iterate over each element in the array. During every iteration if the element already exists in counts, we increment its count else we initialize it to 1.

function findModeArray(array) {
    let counts = {};
    let mode = '';
    let maxCount = 0;

    array.forEach(function(element) {
        counts[element] = (counts[element] || 0) + 1;
    });
}

Step 4: Find Maximum Count

Once we have the count of all the elements, we can find the mode. For that we'll iterate over the counts object using a for...in loop checking if the count of the current element is more than maxCount. If it is, then we update maxCount and mode.

function findModeArray(array) {
    let counts = {};
    let mode = '';
    let maxCount = 0;

    array.forEach(function(element) {
        counts[element] = (counts[element] || 0) + 1;
    });

    for (let element in counts) {
        if (counts[element] > maxCount) {
            maxCount = counts[element];
            mode = element;
        }
    }
}

Step 5: Return the Mode

Finally, we return the mode from our function. Complete function code will look as follows:

function findModeArray(array) {
    let counts = {};
    let mode = '';
    let maxCount = 0;

    array.forEach(function(element) {
        counts[element] = (counts[element] || 0) + 1;
    });

    for (let element in counts) {
        if (counts[element] > maxCount) {
            maxCount = counts[element];
            mode = element;
        }
    }
    
    return mode;
}

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've just implemented a function that can return the mode of an array in JavaScript. This function works both on numbers and strings. Always remember, understanding the problem is the most crucial part. Once you understand that, breaking down the problem into meaningful implementation steps is straightforward.