JavaScript String.split() function returning an array with 20 empty strings

Question

I am trying to make something similar to the way that jQuery uses strings to determine HTML elements. I tried using a split function to make it become a list of the different values but instead it returned an array with 20 empty strings.

console.log('button#hello.something'.split(/.|#/))

And the result is:

[
  '', '', '', '', '', '', '', '',
  '', '', '', '', '', '', '', '',
  '', '', '', '', '', '', ''     
]

You need to escape the `.` to make it literal. Or use `[.#]`. — Barmar, Dec 07 '22 at 23:42

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 07 '22 at 23:49

3

. means any single charactar in regex, you need to skip it using a backslash:

console.log('button#hello.something'.split(/\.|#/))

answered Dec 07 '22 at 23:49

Amir MB

3,233
2
10
16

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 07 '22 at 23:45

0

Your regex is wrong if you want to match exactly dots and sharps. You need to evade both like so /\.|\#/ Dots in regexp matches any character, so your split function effectively splits your string by any character.

answered Dec 07 '22 at 23:45

CrimsonFreak

127
7

1

`#` shouldn't need escaping ~ [What special characters must be escaped in regular expressions?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/399078/283366) – Phil Dec 07 '22 at 23:48

JavaScript String.split() function returning an array with 20 empty strings

2 Answers2