Regular Expressions in JavaScript

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Regular Expressions in JavaScript
This tutorial will explain how regular expressions are used in JavaScript, with a practical example or two to help the concepts gel. By the end of this article, you’ll probably still be a mere mortal, but you’ll certainly be able to impress at parties with your newly acquired text juggling skills!

Using Regular Expressions in JavaScript

Regular expressions in JavaScript are simple once you understand the basics of regex. You can create a regular expression in JavaScript as follows:
const myRE = /regexp/;
Where regexp is the regular expression code, as described above. For example, the following creates a regular expression that detects the string “JavaScript”:
const myRE = /JavaScript/;
Similarly, the follow example matches “banana”, “nababa”, “baba”, “nana”, “ba”, “na”, and others.
const myRE = /^(ba|na)+$/;
By default, JavaScript regular expressions are case sensitive and only search for the first match in any given string. By adding the g (for global) and i (for ignore case) modifiers after the second /, you can make a regular expression search for all matches in the string and ignore case, respectively. Here are a few example regular expressions. For each, I’ve indicated what portion(s) of the string "test1 Test2 TEST3" they would match:
RegExp Match(es):
/Test[0-9]+/ “Test2” only
/Test[0-9]+/i “test1” only
/Test[0-9]+/gi “test1”, “Test2”, and “TEST3”
Using a regular expression is easy. Every JavaScript variable containing a text string supports three methods (or functions, if you aren’t used to object-oriented terminology) for working with regular expressions: match(), replace(), and search().

match()

match() takes a regular expression as a parameter and returns an array of all the matching strings found in the string under consideration. If no matches are discovered, then match() returns false. Returning to our original example, let’s say that we wanted a function that can check that a string entered by the user as his or her phone number is of the form (XXX) XXX-XXXX. The following code would do the trick:
function checkPhoneNumber(phoneNo) {
  const phoneRE = /^\(\d\d\d\) \d\d\d-\d\d\d\d$/; 
  if (phoneNo.match(phoneRE)) {
    return true; 
  } else {
    alert( "The phone number entered is invalid!" );
    return false;
  }
}
As a first order of business, this function defines a regular expression. Let’s break it down to understand how it works. The regular expression begins with ^, to indicate that any match must begin at the start of the string. Next is \(
, which will just match the opening parenthesis. We prefixed the character with a backslash to remove its special meaning in regular expression syntax (to mark the start of a set of alternatives for matching). As mentioned previously, \d is a special code that matches any digit; thus, \d\d\d matches any three digits. We could have written [0-9][0-9][0-9] to achieve the same effect, but this is shorter. The rest of the pattern should be pretty self-explanatory. \) matches the closing parenthesis, the space matches the space that must be left in the phone number, then \d\d\d-\d\d\d\d matches three digits, followed by a dash, followed by four more digits. Finally, the $ indicates that any match must end at the end of the string. Incidentally, we could shorten this regular expression to the following, by using another shortcut that we did not mention above. If you can see how this works, you’re a natural!
const phoneRE = /^\(\d{3}\) \d{3}-\d{4}$/;
Our function then checks if phoneNo.match(phoneRE) evaluates to true or false. In other words, it checks whether or not the string contained in phoneNo matches our regular expression (thus returning an array, which in JavaScript will evaluate to true). If a match is detected, our function returns true to certify that the string is indeed a phone number. If not, a message is displayed warning of the problem and the function returns false. The most common use for this type of function is in validating user input to a form before allowing it to be submitted. By calling our function in the onSubmit event handler for the form, we can prevent the form from being submitted if the information entered is not properly formatted. Here’s a simple example demonstrating the use of our checkPhoneNumber() function:
<form action="...">
  <label>Enter phone number (e.g. (123) 456-7890): 
    <input type="text" name="phone">
  </label>
  <input type="submit">
</form>

<script>
  let form = document.querySelector('form');
  form.addEventListener('submit', function() {
    return checkPhoneNumber(this.phone.value);
  });
</script>
The user will be unable to submit this form unless a phone number has been entered. Any attempt to do so will produce the error message generated by our checkPhoneNumber() function.

See the Pen match() example by SitePoint (@SitePoint) on CodePen.

replace()

As its name would suggest, replace() lets you replace matches to a given regular expression with some new string. Let’s say you were a spelling nut and wanted to enforce the old adage “I before E, except after C” to correct such misspellings as “acheive” and “cieling”. What we’d need is a function that takes a string and performs two search-and-replace operations. The first would replace “cie” with “cei”. Here’s the code:
theString = theString.replace(/cie/gi,"cei");
Simple enough, right? The first parameter is the regular expression that we’re searching for (notice that we’ve set it to “ignore case” and to be “global” so that it finds all occurrences, not just the first), and the second parameter is the string that we want to replace any matches with. The second replacement is a little more complicated. We want to replace “xei” with “xie” where ‘x’ is any letter except ‘c’. The regular expression to detect instances of “xei” is fairly easy to understand:
/[abd-z]ei/gi
This just detects any letter except ‘c’ (‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘d’ to ‘z’ inclusive), followed by “ei”, and does it in a global, case-insensitive manner. The complexity comes in defining our replacement string. Obviously, we want to replace the match with “xie”, but the difficulty comes in writing the ‘x’. Remember, we have to replace ‘x’ with whatever letter appears in the matching string. To do this, we need to learn a new trick. Earlier on, I showed you how parentheses could be used to define a set of alternatives in a regular expression (e.g. ^(ba|na)+$). Well as it turns out, parentheses have another meaning, too. They let us “remember” part of a match, so that we can use it in the replacement string. In this case, we want to remember the portion of the match that corresponds to the [abd-z] in the regular expression. Thus, we surround it with parentheses:
/([abd-z])ei/gi
Now, when specifying the replacement string, we put $1 where we want to insert the portion of the string corresponding to the parenthesised portion of the regular expression. Thus, the code for performing the required substitutions is as follows:
theString = theString.replace(/([abd-z])ei/gi,"$1ie");
To sum it up, here’s the complete function for performing our auto-correction:
function autoCorrect(theString) { 
  theString = theString.replace(/cie/gi,"cei"); 
  theString = theString.replace(/([abd-z])ei/gi,"$1ie"); 
  return theString; 
}

See the Pen replace() demo by SitePoint (@SitePoint) on CodePen.

Before you go and use this function on your page, realize that there are exceptions to the “I before E except after C” rule. Weird, huh? The search() function is similar to the well-known indexOf() function, except it takes a regular expression instead of a string. It then searches the string for the first match to the given regular expression and returns an integer indicating the position in the string (e.g. 0 if the match is at the start of the string, 9 if the match begins with the 10th character in the string). If no match is found, the function returns a value of -1.
const theString = "test1 Test2 TEST3";
theString.search(/Test[0-9]+/); // 6

Summing It Up

Regular expressions are an invaluable tool for verifying user input. By taking advantage of support for regular expressions in JavaScript, that verification can be done as the data is entered, providing a smoother user experience (Note: server-side validation is still necessary for security, and also to caters for situations where JavaScript is unavailable.)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Expressions in JavaScript

What are the different types of expressions in JavaScript?

In JavaScript, there are several types of expressions, each serving a unique purpose. The primary types include Arithmetic expressions that perform mathematical operations, String expressions that manipulate text, Logical expressions that return true or false based on certain conditions, and Primary expressions that are basic standalone expressions such as literals, certain keywords, and variable references.

How do I use regular expressions in JavaScript?

Regular expressions in JavaScript are used to match character combinations in strings. They are created using two slashes (//) and can include optional flags to specify matching behavior. For example, the regular expression /abc/ matches character combinations in strings only when the exact sequence “abc” occurs.

What is the role of parentheses in JavaScript expressions?

Parentheses in JavaScript expressions are used to change the precedence of evaluation or to call a function. They can also be used in regular expressions to create a capturing group, which can be used to apply a quantifier to multiple characters, or to remember a matched sequence for later use.

How can I add parentheses to a regular expression in JavaScript?

To add parentheses to a regular expression in JavaScript, simply include them in the pattern between the slashes. For example, the regular expression /(abc)/ matches and remembers the sequence “abc”. The matched sequence can later be accessed using the match() method or the RegExp.$1-$9 properties.

What is the difference between a statement and an expression in JavaScript?

In JavaScript, an expression is a piece of code that produces a value and can be written wherever a value is expected. A statement, on the other hand, performs an action and typically consists of keywords and expressions.

How can I use expressions in JavaScript functions?

Expressions in JavaScript functions can be used in various ways, such as in the return statement to specify the value returned by the function, in the condition of an if statement to determine which code block to execute, or in a loop to determine how many times the loop should run.

What are the benefits of using regular expressions in JavaScript?

Regular expressions in JavaScript provide a powerful way to handle text. They can be used to search for specific patterns in a string, to replace parts of a string, or to split a string into an array of substrings. They also provide flexibility and efficiency when dealing with large amounts of text.

How can I use logical expressions in JavaScript?

Logical expressions in JavaScript are used to make decisions based on certain conditions. They use logical operators such as && (and), || (or), and ! (not) to combine or invert boolean values. The result of a logical expression is always a boolean value, either true or false.

What are the rules for operator precedence in JavaScript expressions?

Operator precedence in JavaScript expressions determines the order in which operations are performed. Operators with higher precedence are performed before those with lower precedence. If operators have the same precedence, they are performed from left to right. Parentheses can be used to change the order of evaluation.

How can I use arithmetic expressions in JavaScript?

Arithmetic expressions in JavaScript are used to perform mathematical operations on numbers. They use arithmetic operators such as + (addition), – (subtraction), * (multiplication), / (division), and % (modulus). The result of an arithmetic expression is a number.

Kevin YankKevin Yank
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Kevin Yank is an accomplished web developer, speaker, trainer and author of Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL and Co-Author of Simply JavaScript and Everything You Know About CSS is Wrong! Kevin loves to share his wealth of knowledge and it didn't stop at books, he's also the course instructor to 3 online courses in web development. Currently Kevin is the Director of Front End Engineering at Culture Amp.

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