Best way to find if an item is in a JavaScript array?

First, implement indexOf in JavaScript for browsers that don't already have it. For example, see Erik Arvidsson's array extras (also, the associated blog post). And then you can use indexOf without worrying about browser support. Here's a slightly optimised version of his indexOf implementation:

if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
    Array.prototype.indexOf = function (obj, fromIndex) {
        if (fromIndex == null) {
            fromIndex = 0;
        } else if (fromIndex < 0) {
            fromIndex = Math.max(0, this.length + fromIndex);
        }
        for (var i = fromIndex, j = this.length; i < j; i++) {
            if (this[i] === obj)
                return i;
        }
        return -1;
    };
}

It's changed to store the length so that it doesn't need to look it up every iteration. But the difference isn't huge. A less general purpose function might be faster:

var include = Array.prototype.indexOf ?
    function(arr, obj) { return arr.indexOf(obj) !== -1; } :
    function(arr, obj) {
        for(var i = -1, j = arr.length; ++i < j;)
            if(arr[i] === obj) return true;
        return false;
    };

I prefer using the standard function and leaving this sort of micro-optimization for when it's really needed. But if you're keen on micro-optimization I adapted the benchmarks that roosterononacid linked to in the comments, to benchmark searching in arrays. They're pretty crude though, a full investigation would test arrays with different types, different lengths and finding objects that occur in different places.

If you are using jQuery:

$.inArray(5 + 5, [ "8", "9", "10", 10 + "" ]);

For more information: http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.inArray/

As of ECMAScript 2016 you can use includes()

arr.includes(obj);

If you want to support IE or other older browsers:

function include(arr,obj) {
    return (arr.indexOf(obj) != -1);
}

EDIT: This will not work on IE6, 7 or 8 though. The best workaround is to define it yourself if it's not present:

1. Mozilla's (ECMA-262) version:

      if (!Array.prototype.indexOf)
      {
   
           Array.prototype.indexOf = function(searchElement /*, fromIndex */)
   
        {
   
   
        "use strict";
   
        if (this === void 0 || this === null)
          throw new TypeError();
   
        var t = Object(this);
        var len = t.length >>> 0;
        if (len === 0)
          return -1;
   
        var n = 0;
        if (arguments.length > 0)
        {
          n = Number(arguments[1]);
          if (n !== n)
            n = 0;
          else if (n !== 0 && n !== (1 / 0) && n !== -(1 / 0))
            n = (n > 0 || -1) * Math.floor(Math.abs(n));
        }
   
        if (n >= len)
          return -1;
   
        var k = n >= 0
              ? n
              : Math.max(len - Math.abs(n), 0);
   
        for (; k < len; k++)
        {
          if (k in t && t[k] === searchElement)
            return k;
        }
        return -1;
      };
   
    }
   

2. Daniel James's version:

    if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
      Array.prototype.indexOf = function (obj, fromIndex) {
        if (fromIndex == null) {
            fromIndex = 0;
        } else if (fromIndex < 0) {
            fromIndex = Math.max(0, this.length + fromIndex);
        }
        for (var i = fromIndex, j = this.length; i < j; i++) {
            if (this[i] === obj)
                return i;
        }
        return -1;
      };
    }
   

3. roosteronacid's version:

    Array.prototype.hasObject = (
      !Array.indexOf ? function (o)
      {
        var l = this.length + 1;
        while (l -= 1)
        {
            if (this[l - 1] === o)
            {
                return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
      } : function (o)
      {
        return (this.indexOf(o) !== -1);
      }
    );