How do I check if a variable is an array in JavaScript?

You could also use:

if (value instanceof Array) {
  alert('value is Array!');
} else {
  alert('Not an array');
}

This seems to me a pretty elegant solution, but to each his own.

Edit:

As of ES5 there is now also:

Array.isArray(value);

But this will break on older browsers, unless you are using polyfills (basically... IE8 or similar).

There are multiple solutions with all their own quirks. This page gives a good overview. One possible solution is:

function isArray(o) {
  return Object.prototype.toString.call(o) === '[object Array]'; 
}

I noticed someone mentioned jQuery, but I didn't know there was an isArray() function. It turns out it was added in version 1.3.

jQuery implements it as Peter suggests:

isArray: function( obj ) {
    return toString.call(obj) === "[object Array]";
},

Having put a lot of faith in jQuery already (especially their techniques for cross-browser compatibility) I will either upgrade to version 1.3 and use their function (providing that upgrading doesn’t cause too many problems) or use this suggested method directly in my code.

Many thanks for the suggestions.

Via Crockford:

function typeOf(value) {
    var s = typeof value;
    if (s === 'object') {
        if (value) {
            if (value instanceof Array) {
                s = 'array';
            }
        } else {
            s = 'null';
        }
    }
    return s;
}

The main failing Crockford mentions is an inability to correctly determine arrays that were created in a different context, e.g., window. That page has a much more sophisticated version if this is insufficient.

Thought I would add another option for those who might already be using the Underscore.js library in their script. Underscore.js has an isArray() function (see http://underscorejs.org/#isArray).

_.isArray(object) 

Returns true if object is an Array.

In Crockford's JavaScript The Good Parts, there is a function to check if the given argument is an array:

var is_array = function (value) {
    return value &&
        typeof value === 'object' &&
        typeof value.length === 'number' &&
        typeof value.splice === 'function' &&
        !(value.propertyIsEnumerable('length'));
};

He explains:

First, we ask if the value is truthy. We do this to reject null and other falsy values. Second, we ask if the typeof value is 'object'. This will be true for objects, arrays, and (weirdly) null. Third, we ask if the value has a length property that is a number. This will always be true for arrays, but usually not for objects. Fourth, we ask if the value contains a splice method. This again will be true for all arrays. Finally, we ask if the length property is enumerable (will length be produced by a for in loop?). That will be false for all arrays. This is the most reliable test for arrayness that I have found. It is unfortunate that it is so complicated.

I tried most of the solutions here. But none of them worked. Then I came up with a simple solution. Hope it will help someone & save their time.

if(variable.constructor != undefined && variable.constructor.length > 0) {
        /// IT IS AN ARRAY
} else {
       /// IT IS NOT AN ARRAY
}