JavaScript Regex

In JavaScript, a Regular Expression (RegEx) is an object that describes a

sequence of characters used for defining a search pattern. For example,

/^a...s$/

The above code defines a RegEx pattern. The pattern is: any five letter string
starting with a and ending with s.
A pattern defined using RegEx can be used to match against a string.
Expression String Matched?

abs No match

alias Match

/^a...s$/ abyss Match

Alias No match

An abacus No match

Create a RegEx
There are two ways you can create a regular expression in JavaScript.

1. Using a regular expression literal:

The regular expression consists of a pattern enclosed between slashes /. For
example,

const regularExp = /abc/;

Here, /abc/ is a regular expression.

2. Using the RegExp() constructor function:
You can also create a regular expression by calling the RegExp() constructor
function. For example,

const regularExp = new RegExp('abc');

For example,
const regex = new RegExp(/^a...s$/);
[Link]([Link]('alias')); // true
Run Code

In the above example, the string alias matches with the RegEx pattern /^a...s$/.
Here, the test() method is used to check if the string matches the pattern.
There are several other methods available to use with JavaScript RegEx. Before
we explore them, let's learn about regular expressions themselves.

If you already know the basics of RegEx, jump to JavaScript RegEx Methods.

Specify Pattern Using RegEx

To specify regular expressions, metacharacters are used. In the above example
(/^a...s$/), ^ and $ are metacharacters.

MetaCharacters
Metacharacters are characters that are interpreted in a special way by a RegEx
engine. Here's a list of metacharacters:

[] . ^ $ * + ? {} () \ |
[] - Square brackets
Square brackets specify a set of characters you wish to match.

Expression String Matched?

a 1 match

ac 2 matches
[abc]
Hey Jude No match

abc de ca 5 matches

Here, [abc] will match if the string you are trying to match contains any of
the a, b or c.
You can also specify a range of characters using - inside square brackets.
[a-e] is the same as [abcde].
[1-4] is the same as [1234].
[0-39] is the same as [01239].
You can complement (invert) the character set by using caret ^ symbol at the
start of a square-bracket.
[^abc] means any character except a or b or c.
[^0-9] means any non-digit character.

. - Period
A period matches any single character (except newline '\n').
Expression String Matched?

a No match

ac 1 match
..
acd 1 match

acde 2 matches (contains 4 characters)

^ - Caret
The caret symbol ^ is used to check if a string starts with a certain character.
Expression String Matched?

a 1 match

^a abc 1 match

bac No match

abc 1 match
^ab
acb No match (starts with a but not followed by b)

$ - Dollar
The dollar symbol $ is used to check if a string ends with a certain character.
Expression String Matched?

a 1 match

a$ formula 1 match

cab No match

* - Star
The star symbol * matches zero or more occurrences of the pattern left to it.
Expression String Matched?
 mn 1 match

man 1 match

ma*n mann 1 match

main No match (a is not followed by n)

woman 1 match

+ - Plus
The plus symbol + matches one or more occurrences of the pattern left to it.
Expression String Matched?

mn No match (no a character)

man 1 match

ma+n mann 1 match

main No match (a is not followed by n)

woman 1 match

? - Question Mark
The question mark symbol ? matches zero or one occurrence of the pattern left
to it.
Expression String Matched?

ma?n mn 1 match

man 1 match
 maan No match (more than one a character)

main No match (a is not followed by n)

woman 1 match

{} - Braces
Consider this code: {n,m}. This means at least n, and at most m repetitions of the
pattern left to it.
Expression String Matched?

abc dat No match

abc daat 1 match (at daat)

a{2,3}
aabc daaat 2 matches (at aabc and daaat)

aabc daaaat 2 matches (at aabc and daaaat)

Let's try one more example. This RegEx [0-9]{2, 4} matches at least 2 digits but
not more than 4 digits.
Expression String Matched?

ab123csde 1 match (match at ab123csde)

[0-9]{2,4} 12 and 345673 3 matches (12, 3456, 73)

1 and 2 No match

| - Alternation
Vertical bar | is used for alternation (or operator).
Expression String Matched?
 cde No match

a|b ade 1 match (match at ade)

acdbea 3 matches (at acdbea)

Here, a|b match any string that contains either a or b

() - Group
Parentheses () is used to group sub-patterns. For example, (a|b|c)xz match any
string that matches either a or b or c followed by xz
Expression String Matched?

ab xz No match

(a|b|c)xz abxz 1 match (match at abxz)

axz cabxz 2 matches (at axzbc cabxz)

\ - Backslash
Backslash \ is used to escape various characters including all metacharacters.
For example,
\$a match if a string contains $ followed by a. Here, $ is not interpreted by a
RegEx engine in a special way.
If you are unsure if a character has special meaning or not, you can put \ in front
of it. This makes sure the character is not treated in a special way.
Special Sequences
Special sequences make commonly used patterns easier to write. Here's a list of
special sequences:

\A - Matches if the specified characters are at the start of a string.

Expression String Matched?

the sun Match

\Athe
In the sun No match

\b - Matches if the specified characters are at the beginning or end of a word.

Expression String Matched?

football Match
\bfoo
a football Match

a football No match

the foo Match

foo\b
the afoo test Match

the afootest No match

\B - Opposite of \b. Matches if the specified characters are not at the beginning or
end of a word.
Expression String Matched?

\Bfoo football No match

 a football No match

a football Match

the foo No match

foo\B
the afoo test No match

the afootest Match

\d - Matches any decimal digit. Equivalent to [0-9]

Expression String Matched?

12abc3 3 matches (at 12abc3)

\d
JavaScript No match

\D - Matches any non-decimal digit. Equivalent to [^0-9]

Expression String Matched?

1ab34"50 3 matches (at 1ab34"50)

\D
1345 No match

\s - Matches where a string contains any whitespace character. Equivalent to [ \

t\n\r\f\v].

Expression String Matched?

 JavaScript RegEx 1 match
\s
JavaScriptRegEx No match

\S - Matches where a string contains any non-whitespace character. Equivalent

to [^ \t\n\r\f\v].

Expression String Matched?

a b 2 matches (at a b)
\S
No match

\w - Matches any alphanumeric character (digits and alphabets). Equivalent to [a-

zA-Z0-9_]. By the way, underscore _ is also considered an alphanumeric

character.
Expression String Matched?

12&": ;c 3 matches (at 12&": ;c)

\w
%"> ! No match

\W - Matches any non-alphanumeric character. Equivalent to [^a-zA-Z0-9_]

Expression String Matched?

\W 1a2%c 1 match (at 1a2%c)

 JavaScript No match

\Z - Matches if the specified characters are at the end of a string.

Expression String Matched?

I like JavaScript 1 match

JavaScript\Z I like JavaScript Programming No match

JavaScript is fun No match

Tip: To build and test regular expressions, you can use RegEx tester tools such
as regex101. This tool not only helps you in creating regular expressions, but it
also helps you learn it.

Now you understand the basics of RegEx, let's discuss how to use RegEx in your
JavaScript code.

JavaScript Regular Expression Methods

As mentioned above, you can either use RegExp() or regular expression literal to
create a RegEx in JavaScript.

const regex1 = /^ab/;

const regex2 = new Regexp('/^ab/');

In JavaScript, you can use regular expressions

with RegExp() methods: test() and exec().
There are also some string methods that allow you to pass RegEx as its
parameter. They are: match(), replace(), search(), and split().
 Method Description

exec()
Executes a search for a match in a string and returns an array of
information. It returns null on a mismatch.

test() Tests for a match in a string and returns true or false.

Returns an array containing all the matches. It returns null on a

match()
mismatch.

matchAll(
Returns an iterator containing all of the matches.
)

Tests for a match in a string and returns the index of the match. It
search()
returns -1 if the search fails.

Searches for a match in a string and replaces the matched substring with
replace()
a replacement substring.

split() Break a string into an array of substrings.

Example 1: Regular Expressions

const string = 'Find me';

const pattern = /me/;

// search if the pattern is in string variable

const result1 = [Link](pattern);
[Link](result1); // 5

// replace the character with another character

const string1 = 'Find me';
[Link](pattern, 'found you'); // Find found you

// splitting strings into array elements

const regex1 = /[\s,]+/;
const result2 = 'Hello world! '.split(regex1);
[Link](result2); // ['Hello', 'world!', '']

// searching the phone number pattern

const regex2 = /(\d{3})\D(\d{3})-(\d{4})/g;
const result3 = [Link]('My phone number is: 555 123-4567.');
[Link](result3); // ["555 123-4567", "555", "123", "4567"]
Regular Expression Flags
Flags are used with regular expressions that allow various options such as global
search, case-insensitive search, etc. They can be used separately or together.

Flags Description

g Performs a global match (find all matches)

m Performs multiline match

i Performs case-insensitive matching

Example 2: Regular Expression Modifier

const string = 'Hello hello hello';

// performing a replacement
const result1 = [Link](/hello/, 'world');
[Link](result1); // Hello world hello

// performing global replacement

const result2 = [Link](/hello/g, 'world');
[Link](result2); // Hello world world

// performing case-insensitive replacement

const result3 = [Link](/hello/i, 'world');
[Link](result3); // world hello hello

// performing global case-insensitive replacement

const result4 = [Link](/hello/gi, 'world');
[Link](result4); // world world world

Example 3: Validating the Phone Number

// program to validate the phone number

function validatePhone(num) {

// regex pattern for phone number

const re = /^\(?([0-9]{3})\)?[-. ]?([0-9]{3})[-. ]?([0-9]{4})$/g;
 // check if the phone number is valid
let result = [Link](re);
if (result) {
[Link]('The number is valid.');
}
else {
let num = prompt('Enter number in XXX-XXX-XXXX format:');
validatePhone(num);
}
}

// take input
let number = prompt('Enter a number XXX-XXX-XXXX');

validatePhone(number);
Run Code

Output

Enter a number XXX-XXX-XXXX: 2343223432

Enter number in XXX-XXX-XXXX format: 234-322-3432
The number is valid

Example 4: Validating the Email Address

// program to validate the email address

function validateEmail(email) {

// regex pattern for email

const re = /\S+@\S+\.\S+/g;

// check if the email is valid

let result = [Link](email);
if (result) {
[Link]('The email is valid.');
}
else {
let newEmail = prompt('Enter a valid email:');
validateEmail(newEmail);
}
}

// take input
let email = prompt('Enter an email: ');

validateEmail(email);
Run Code

Output

Enter an email: hellohello

Enter a valid email: learningJS@[Link]
The email is valid.