JavaScript String object

## JS Basic

JS HOME JS Introduction JS How To JS Output JS Statements JS Comments JS Variables JS Data Types JS Objects JS Functions JS Operators JS Comparisons JS Conditions JS Switch JS Loop For JS Loop While JS Breaks JS Errors JS Validation

## JS Advanced

JS Object JS Number JS String JS Date JS Array JS Boolean JS Math JS RegExp

## JS HTML DOM

DOM Intro DOM Methods DOM Document DOM Elements DOM HTML DOM CSS DOM Events DOM Navigation DOM Nodes DOM Nodelist

## JS Browser BOM

JS Window JS Screen JS Location JS History JS Navigator JS PopupAlert JS Timing JS Cookies

## JS Libraries

JS Libraries JS jQuery JS Prototype

## JS Examples

JS Basic Examples JS Objects Examples JS DOM Examples JS HTML Examples JS Browser Examples JS Quiz JS Certificate JS Summary

## JS References

Javascript Objects HTML DOM Objects

# JavaScript String Object

« Previous
Next Chapter »

The String object is used for storing and manipulating text.

## JavaScript Strings

A string simply stores a series of characters like "John Doe".

A string can be any text inside quotes. You can use single or double quotes:

## Example

var carname="Volvo XC60";
var carname='Volvo XC60';

You can access each character in a string with its position (index):

## Example

var character=carname[7];

String indexes are zero-based, which means the first character is [0], the second is [1], and so on.

You can use quotes inside a string, as long as they don't match the quotes surrounding the string:

## Example

var answer="It's alright";
var answer="He is called 'Johnny'";
var answer='He is called "Johnny"';

Or you can put quotes inside a string by using the \ escape character:

## Example

var answer='It\'s alright';
var answer="He is called \"Johnny\"";
Try it yourself »

## String Length

The length of a string (a string object) is found in the built in property length:

## Example

var txt="Hello World!";
document.write(txt.length);
var txt="ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
document.write(txt.length);
Try it yourself »

## Finding a String in a String

The indexOf() method returns the position (as a number) of the first found occurrence of a specified text inside a string:

## Example

var str="Hello world, welcome to the universe.";
var n=str.indexOf("welcome");
Try it yourself »

The method returns -1 if the specified text is not found.

The lastIndexOf() method starts searching at the end of the string instead of at the beginning.

## Matching Content

The match() method can be used to search for a matching content in a string:

## Example

var str="Hello world!";
document.write(str.match("world") + "<br>");
document.write(str.match("World") + "<br>");
document.write(str.match("world!"));
Try it yourself »

## Replacing Content

The replace() method replaces a specified value with another value in a string.

## Example

str="Please visit Microsoft!"
var n=str.replace("Microsoft","W3Schools");
Try it yourself »

## Upper Case and Lower Case

A string is converted to upper/lower case with the methods toUpperCase() / toLowerCase():

## Example

var txt="Hello World!"; // String
var txt1=txt.toUpperCase(); // txt1 is txt converted to upper
var txt2=txt.toLowerCase(); // txt2 is txt converted to lower
Try it yourself »

## Convert a String to an Array

A string is converted to an array with the built in method string.split():

## Example

txt="a,b,c,d,e" // String
txt.split(","); // Split on commas
txt.split(" "); // Split on spaces
txt.split("|"); // Split on pipe
Try it yourself »

## Special Characters

The backslash (\) can be used to insert apostrophes, new lines, quotes, and other special characters into a string.

Look at the following JavaScript code:

var txt="We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north.";
document.write(txt);

In JavaScript, a string is started and stopped with either single or double quotes. This means that the string above will be chopped to: We are the so-called

To solve this problem, you must place a backslash (\) before each double quote in "Viking". This turns each double quote into a string literal:

var txt="We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north.";
document.write(txt);

JavaScript will now output the proper text string: We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north.

The table below lists other special characters that can be added to a text string with the backslash sign:

Code | Outputs
--- | ---
\' | single quote
\" | double quote
\\ | backslash
\n | new line
\r | carriage return
\t | tab
\b | backspace
\f | form feed

## Strings Can be Strings or Objects

JavaScript strings can be primitive values created from literals, like var x = "John";

JavaScript strings can also be objects created with the new keyword, like var y = new String("John");

## Example

var x = "John";
var y = new String("John");
typeof(x) // returns String
typeof(y) // returns Object
Try it yourself »

Normally, because of some nasty side effects, you will not define strings as objects.

## Example

var x = "John";
var y = new String("John");
(x === y) // is false because x is a string and y is an object.
Try it yourself »

Note: Primitive values, like "John", cannot have properties or methods (because they are not objects).

With JavaScript, all methods and properties of the string object are also available to primitive values, because Javascript will temporarily transfer primitive values to objects before executing the methods or properties.

## String Properties and Methods

Properties:

- length
- prototype
- constructor

Methods:

- charAt()
- charCodeAt()
- concat()
- fromCharCode()
- indexOf()
- lastIndexOf()
- localeCompare()
- match()
- replace()
- search()
- slice()
- split()
- substr()
- substring()
- toLowerCase()
- toUpperCase()
- toString()
- trim()
- valueOf()

## Complete String Object Reference

For a complete reference of all the properties and methods that can be used with the String object, go to our Complete String Object Reference.

The reference contains both descriptions and examples, for each property and method.

« Previous
Next Chapter »

## Your suggestion:

Your E-mail (optional):

Page address:

Description:

Close [X]

## Thank You For Helping Us!

Your message has been sent to W3Schools.

Close [X]
Search w3schools.com:

## WEB HOSTING

Best Web Hosting UK Reseller Hosting Wow! $5 SSD Hosting

## WEB BUILDING

Download XML Editor
FREE Website BUILDER FREE Website Creator

## WEB RESOURCES

Web Statistics Web Validation

## SHARE THIS PAGE