CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptregex
LNA
LNA

Reputation: 1447

Returning true for strings that begin with a hashtag using regex

I'm confused why in http://regexr.com/3bcns, my ^# isn't matching #hello-link, which is a string that begins with a hashtag.

This is what I want to do:

if ((/^\.\./).test(link)) { 
alert('link starts with ..');
} else if (!(/#/).test(link)) {
alert('does not contain #');
} else if ((/^#/).test(link))  { 
alert('link begins with a #');
}

Also, I'm curious: is there any reason why people prefer to use .test instead of .match when using regexes in javascript?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 161

Answers (2)

DLH
DLH

Reputation: 565

Regex.test(str) returns a Boolean telling whether or not a match is present. This is the most straightforward check to perform if the only thing you care about is whether or not a match exists.

String.match(regex) returns the text of the match, or null if there is no match. This is more useful if you need to know what the match actually is. (Edited to reflect Oriol's correction.)

Upvotes: 1

Schien
Schien

Reputation: 3903

Why not check the first character of the string?

function start_with_hash(str){
  return str[0]=='#';
}

Upvotes: 1

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