TheAlgorithms/JavaScript · warning · TypeError

Array is empty

Error message

Array is empty

What it means

Thrown by findMin(...nums) (FindMin.js:9) as a TypeError when the function is called with no arguments at all. findMin is variadic (uses rest parameters), so calling it with zero arguments yields nums.length === 0 and there is no minimum to compute. Note this is thrown as TypeError even though it is semantically an empty-input condition. Calling findMin(5) with a single argument is valid and returns 5.

Source

Thrown at Maths/FindMin.js:10

/**
 * @function FindMin
 * @description Function to find the minimum number given in an array of integers.
 * @param {Integer[]} nums - Array of Integers
 * @return {Integer} - The minimum number of the array.
 */

const findMin = (...nums) => {
  if (nums.length === 0) {
    throw new TypeError('Array is empty')
  }

  let min = nums[0]
  for (let i = 1; i < nums.length; i++) {
    if (nums[i] < min) {
      min = nums[i]
    }
  }

  return min
}

export { findMin }

View on GitHub (pinned to 5c39e87a9a)

Solutions

1. Guard the call: if (values.length === 0) return undefined (or Infinity) before spreading.
2. Pass the array directly if you have one, rather than spreading: write your own loop or use Math.min for variadic cases.
3. Provide a fallback at the call site: const m = values.length ? findMin(...values) : Infinity.
4. Validate the upstream source produced at least one value before computing the min.

Example fix

// before
const m = findMin(...values) // throws if values is []

// after
const m = values.length === 0 ? Infinity : findMin(...values)

if (!Array.isArray(values) || values.length === 0) {
  return Infinity // or a domain-appropriate default
}
const m = findMin(...values)

const isNonEmptyNumberArray = (v) => Array.isArray(v) && v.length > 0 && v.every(x => typeof x === 'number')

try {
  m = findMin(...values)
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof TypeError && e.message === 'Array is empty') {
    m = Infinity
  } else throw e
}

When it happens

Trigger: Call findMin() with no arguments; call findMin(...emptyArray) where the spread yields zero args; call findMin.apply(null, []) with an empty array via apply.

Common situations: Spreading a dynamically-sized array that happens to be empty; min computation over a filtered result that retained nothing; a variadic call site that assumed at least one argument would always be present.

Related errors

• Array is empty
• Input is not a valid 2D matrix.
• Index out of range
• The param should be a nonempty string
• Provided input is not an array

AI-assisted analysis of TheAlgorithms/JavaScript@5c39e87a9a (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f69a18992633c5a2. Report an issue: GitHub.