# jQuery.inArray()

## jQuery.inArray ( value, array, fromIndex ) Returns: Number version added: 1.2

- value
  Type: Anything
  The value to search for.

- array
  Type: Array
  An array through which to search.

- fromIndex
  Type: Number
  The index of the array at which to begin the search. The default is 0, which will search the whole array.

Description: Search for a specified value within an array and return its index (or -1 if not found).

The `$.inArray()` method is similar to JavaScript's native `.indexOf()` method in that it returns -1 when it doesn't find a match. If the first element within the array matches `value`, `$.inArray()` returns 0.

Because JavaScript treats 0 as loosely equal to false (i.e. 0 == false, but 0 !== false), if we're checking for the presence of `value` within `array`, we need to check if it's not equal to (or greater than) -1.

## Examples:

#### Example: Report the index of some elements in the array.

    <!doctype html>
    <html lang="en">
    <head>
      <meta charset="utf-8">
      <title>css demo</title>

      <style>

      div {
        color: blue;
      }
      span {
        color: red;
      }

      </style>

      <script src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>

    <div>"John" found at <span></span></div>
    <div>4 found at <span></span></div>
    <div>"Karl" not found, so <span></span></div>
    <div>"Pete" is in the array, but not at or after index 2, so <span></span></div>

    <script>

    var arr = [ 4, "Pete", 8, "John" ];
    var $spans = $( "span" );
    $spans.eq( 0 ).text( jQuery.inArray( "John", arr ) );
    $spans.eq( 1 ).text( jQuery.inArray( 4, arr ) );
    $spans.eq( 2 ).text( jQuery.inArray( "Karl", arr ) );
    $spans.eq( 3 ).text( jQuery.inArray( "Pete", arr, 2 ) );

    </script>

    </body>
    </html>

#### Demo: