Array.push() if does not exist?

You could extend the Array prototype with a custom method:

// check if an element exists in array using a comparer function
// comparer : function(currentElement)
Array.prototype.inArray = function(comparer) { 
    for(var i=0; i < this.length; i++) { 
        if(comparer(this[i])) return true; 
    }
    return false; 
}; 

// adds an element to the array if it does not already exist using a comparer 
// function
Array.prototype.pushIfNotExist = function(element, comparer) { 
    if (!this.inArray(comparer)) {
        this.push(element);
    }
}; 

var array = [{ name: "tom", text: "tasty" }];
var element = { name: "tom", text: "tasty" };
array.pushIfNotExist(element, function(e) { 
    return e.name === element.name && e.text === element.text; 
});

Push dynamically

var a = [
  {name:"bull", text: "sour"},
  {name: "tom", text: "tasty" },
  {name: "Jerry", text: "tasty" }
]

function addItem(item) {
  var index = a.findIndex(x => x.name == item.name)
  if (index === -1) {
    a.push(item);
  }else {
    console.log("object already exists")
  }
}

var item = {name:"bull", text: "sour"};
addItem(item);

In simple method

var item = {name:"bull", text: "sour"};
a.findIndex(x => x.name == item.name) == -1 ? a.push(item) : console.log("object already exists")

If the array contains only primitive types/ simple array

var b = [1, 7, 8, 4, 3];
var newItem = 6;
b.indexOf(newItem) === -1 && b.push(newItem);

Easy code, if 'indexOf' returns '-1' it means that element is not inside the array then the condition '=== -1' retrieve true/false.

The '&&' operator means 'and', so if the first condition is true we push it to the array.

array.indexOf(newItem) === -1 && array.push(newItem);

I would suggest you use a Set,

Sets only allow unique entries, which automatically solves your problem.

Sets can be declared like so:

const baz = new Set(["Foo","Bar"])

My choice was to use .includes() extending the Array.prototype as @Darrin Dimitrov suggested:

Array.prototype.pushIfNotIncluded = function (element) {
    if (!this.includes(element)) {
      this.push(element);
    }
}

Just remembering that includes comes from es6 and does not work on IE: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/includes

Not sure about speed, but stringification + indexOf is a simple approach. Start with turning your array into a string:

let strMyArray = JSON.stringify(myArray);

Then for a series of attribute-value pairs you can use:

if (strMyArray.indexOf('"name":"tom"') === -1 && strMyArray.indexOf('"text":"tasty"') === -1) {
   myArray.push({ name: "tom", text: "tasty" });
}

Finding a whole object is simpler:

if (strMyArray.indexOf(JSON.stringify(objAddMe) === -1) { 
   myArray.push(objAddMe);
}

I guess i am too late to answer here however this is what i finally came up with for a mail manager i wrote. Works that's all i need.

window.ListManager = [];
$('#add').click(function(){
//Your Functionality
  let data =Math.floor(Math.random() * 5) + 1 
  
  if (window.ListManager.includes(data)){
      console.log("data exists in list")
  }else{
       window.ListManager.push(data);
  }
  
  
  $('#result').text(window.ListManager);
});

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<h1>Unique List</h1>

<p id="result"></p>
<button id="add">Add to List</button>

a is the array of objects you have

a.findIndex(x => x.property=="WhateverPropertyYouWantToMatch") <0 ? 
a.push(objectYouWantToPush) : console.log("response if object exists");

Removing duplicates after pushing

If you already have an array containing duplicates, transform the array of objects into an array of strings, and then use the Set() function to eliminate duplicates:

let arr_obj = [
    { name: "tom", text: "tasty" }, 
    { name: "tom", text: "tasty" }
]

let arr_str = arr_obj.map(JSON.stringify)

let arr_unique = [...new Set(arr_str)].map(JSON.parse) 

Checking before pushing

If you don't have duplicates so far and you want to check for duplicates before pushing a new element:

let arr_obj = [
    { name: "tom", text: "tasty" },
    { name: "tim", text: "tusty" }
]

let new_obj = { name: "tom", text: "tasty" }

let arr_str = arr_obj.map(JSON.stringify)

!arr_str.includes(JSON.stringify(new_obj)) && arr_obj.push(new_obj)

I would prefer to use native js Array.prototype.some() even in jQ env
Docs: w3s some or mdn some

let arr = [
    { name: "tom", text: "tasty" },
    { name: "tom", text: "tasty" }
];
let oneMore = { name: "tom", text: "tasty" };
!arr.some(i => i.name == oneMore.name && i.text == oneMore.text)
  && arr.push(oneMore);

Here you have a way to do it in one line for two arrays:

const startArray = [1,2,3,4]
const newArray = [4,5,6]

const result = [...startArray, ...newArray.filter(a => !startArray.includes(a))]

console.log(result);
//Result: [1,2,3,4,5,6]

The question was a litle bit old, but that my option :

    let finalTab = [{id: 1, name: 'dupont'}, {id: 2, name: 'tintin'}, {id: 3, name:'toto'}]; // Your array of object you want to populate with distinct data
    const tabToCompare = [{id: 1, name: 'dupont'}, {id: 4, name: 'tata'}]; // A array with 1 new data and 1 is contain into finalTab
    
    finalTab.push(
      ...tabToCompare.filter(
        tabToC => !finalTab.find(
          finalT => finalT.id === tabToC.id)
      )
    ); // Just filter the first array, and check if data into tabToCompare is not into finalTab, finally push the result of the filters

    console.log(finalTab); // Output : [{id: 1, name: 'dupont'}, {id: 2, name: 'tintin'}, {id: 3, name: 'toto'}, {id: 4, name: 'tata'}];

Short example:

if (typeof(arr[key]) === "undefined") {
  arr.push(key);
}

someArray = [{a: 'a1 value', b: {c: "c1 value"},
             {a: 'a2 value', b: {c: "c2 value"}]
newObject = {a: 'a2 value', b: {c: "c2 value"}}

//New object which needs check for duplicity

let isExists = checkForExists(newObject) {
    return someArray.some(function(el) {
        return el.a === newObject.a && el.b.c === newObject.b.c;
    });
}
// write your logic here 
// if isExists is true then already object in an array else you can add

I hade this issue and I made a simple prototype, use it if you liked it

Array.prototype.findOrPush = function(predicate, fallbackVal) {
    let item = this.find(predicate)
    if(!item){
        item = fallbackVal
        this.push(item)
    }
    return item
}

let arr = [{id: 1}]
let item = arr.findOrPush(e => e.id == 2, {id: 2})
console.log(item) // {id: 2} 

// will not push and just return existing value
arr.findOrPush(e => e.id == 2, {id: 2}) 
conslog.log(arr)  // [{id: 1}, {id: 2}]

If your project includes lodash it will be simple by using unionBy method

import {unionBy} from "lodash";

let arrayObj = [
    { name: "jhon", text: "guitar"},
    { name: "paul", text: "bass" },
    { name: "george", text: "guitar" }
];

// this object will be added to the array
arrayObj = unionBy(arrayObj, [{name: 'ringo', text: 'drums'}], 'name')

// this object will be ignored because already exists  
arrayObj = unionBy(arrayObj, [{name: "jhon", text: "guitar"}], 'name')