# Work with objects and arrays using Rest and Spread

> Learn how to use the rest and spread syntax in JavaScript to expand arrays, clone objects and pass an array as function arguments using the three-dot operator.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2019-01-03 | Topics: [JavaScript](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/js/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/javascript-rest-spread/

You can expand an array, an object or a string using the [**spread operator**](https://flaviocopes.com/javascript-spread-operator/) `...`.

Let's start with an array example. Given

```js
const a = [1, 2, 3]
```

you can create a new array using

```js
const b = [...a, 4, 5, 6]
```

You can also create a copy of an array using

```js
const c = [...a]
```

This works for objects as well. Clone an object with:

```js
const newObj = { ...oldObj }
```

Using strings, the spread operator creates an array with each char in the string:

```js
const hey = 'hey'
const arrayized = [...hey] // ['h', 'e', 'y']
```

This operator has some pretty useful applications. The most important one is the ability to use an array as function argument in a very simple way:

```js
const f = (arg1, arg2) => {}
const a = [1, 2]
f(...a)
```

(in the past you could do this using `f.apply(null, a)` but that's not as nice and readable)

The **rest element** is useful when working with **array destructuring**:

```js
const numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
[first, second, ...others] = numbers
```

and **spread elements**:

```js
const numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
const sum = (a, b, c, d, e) => a + b + c + d + e
const sumOfNumbers = sum(...numbers)
```

ES2018 introduces rest properties, which are the same but for objects.

**Rest properties**:

```js
const { first, second, ...others } = {
  first: 1,
  second: 2,
  third: 3,
  fourth: 4,
  fifth: 5
}

first // 1
second // 2
others // { third: 3, fourth: 4, fifth: 5 }
```

**Spread properties** allow to create a new object by combining the properties of the object passed after the spread operator:

```js
const items = { first, second, ...others }
items //{ first: 1, second: 2, third: 3, fourth: 4, fifth: 5 }
```