[JavaScript] Removing Duplicate Items with JavaScript

00-removing-duplicate-children.js

/**
 * Removes duplicates from the specified array of items; however, this function
 * assumes that $items is an unordered list of items with child elements.
 *
 * @param  $items An unordered list of products with duplicaten children.
 * @return $items An unordered list of products no duplicate children.
 *
 * @private
 */
var _removeDuplicates = function($items) {

  var unique = {},
      dataItemId = -1;

  $items
    .children()
    .each(function() {
      dataItemId = $(this).attr('data-id');
      if (unique[dataItemId]) {
        $(this).remove();
      } else {
        unique[dataItemId] = true;
      }
    });

  return $item;
};