removeArrayDuplicates()

Step 1: Function Definition

The first thing we need to do is define our function. We'll call it removeArrayDuplicates, and it will accept one parameter - the array from which we want to remove duplicates. In this step, we merely establish our function using JavaScript's function syntax:

function removeArrayDuplicates(anArray) {
  // function body will go here
}

Step 2: Sorting The Array

To make the duplicates removing process more straightforward, we can start by sorting the array. This will ensure that if any duplicate elements exist, they will be adjacent (right next to each other) in the array. We use the array's sort() method for this:

function removeArrayDuplicates(anArray) {
  anArray.sort();
}

Step 3: Set Up A New Array for Non-Duplicate Values

Next, we will create a new array to store our array's unique values. We'll call this array uniqueArray and will initially set it to an empty array:

function removeArrayDuplicates(anArray) {
  anArray.sort();
  let uniqueArray = [];
}

Step 4: Populate The Unique Array

We will now iterate through the sorted array, comparing each element with the one following it. If they are not the same, we'll put it in our unique array. We will use a basic for loop:

function removeArrayDuplicates(anArray) {
  anArray.sort();
  let uniqueArray = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < anArray.length; i++) {
    if (anArray[i] !== anArray[i + 1]) {
      uniqueArray.push(anArray[i]);
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Returning the Unique Array

In the final step, we need to return our uniqueArray with no duplicates from the function. We implement this by adding a return statement in the function:

function removeArrayDuplicates(anArray) {
  anArray.sort();
  let uniqueArray = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < anArray.length; i++) {
    if (anArray[i] !== anArray[i + 1]) {
      uniqueArray.push(anArray[i]);
    }
  }
  return uniqueArray;
}

Conclusion

That's it! We've now got a function that removes duplicate values from an array. Note that this function does not modify the original array; instead, it returns a new array that contains no duplicates from the initial array.

You can then call this function and pass in the array as an argument: removeArrayDuplicates([1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3]), which would return [1, 2, 3].