Literal arrays VS. Condensed Arrays

[w3schoon]

Nice be with you everyone! While reading http://www.w3schools...s_obj_array.asp I've noticed two confusing arrays... 2: Condensed:

var myCars=new Array("Saab","Volvo","BMW");

3: Literal:

var myCars=["Saab","Volvo","BMW"];

My question is: What is the difference between Literal arrays & Condensed Arrays? & which of them is better to use? Thank you.

Edited February 17, 2013 by w3schoon

[Ingolme]

No difference.A literal array is shorter which means it saves bandwidth. It is probably a bit more efficient in most browsers.

[callumacrae]

a = [3]; // [3]a = new Array(3); // [ , , ]

They behave differently. You should only use an array literal unless you specifically want to create an array of a certain length (useful for making a string with 50 instances of a word, for example.) There are a few reasons for this; it is cleaner, the Array variable can be overwritten, no need for scope resolution which makes it more efficient, and no strange behaviours that you need to worry about.