title: Given an array as a string, how to best convert that to an array?
body: <p>In JavaScript, given an array as a string:</p>
  
  <pre><code>example1: "[1, 2, 3]"
  example2: "[]"
  example3: "["apple", true, 42]"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>what is the best way to convert it to an array without JSON.parse?</p>