React at a glance

November 26, 2023 Reading time: 19 minutes

Learning React on FreeCodeCamp was confusing. For the first time in the curriculum I had to find some tutorials and go through W3C course as well to help me out. Let's hope writing down will help me understand how to use it.

What

A JavaScript library to build user interfaces thanks to its own markup language called JSX (combination of HTML and JavaScript). It was created and is maintained by Facebook.

Render

React splits up the web page structure to separate components that can be displayed (rendered) according to a set of rules. To execute the rendition, the browser will need a transpiler (a converter) such as Babel.

Virtual DOM

React uses a virtual DOM where it does all the changes before passing them to the browser DOM.

Initiate

On CodePen

Pen Settings/JS tab: select Babel as JavaScript Preprocessor

On JS tab add

import * as ReactDOM from "https://cdn.skypack.dev/react-dom@18.2.0";
import * as React from "https://cdn.skypack.dev/react@18.2.0";

ReactDOM.render(
  <React.StrictMode>
   <App />
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("root")
)

And on HTML tab add

<div id="root"></div>

On computer

Make sure npx and Node.js are installed, then open a terminal and

  1. Go to the where you would like to create your application (ncd Documents/...)
  2. Run npx create-react-app my-react-app (my-react-app is the name of your app/directory)

Wait a few minutes and it the React environment be ready. Then (and anytime later when located on your project directory), just run npm start. A new browser window will pop up with your newly created React App! If not, open your browser and type localhost:3000 in the address bar. Changes you make will be visible immediately after you save the file, without reloading.

Basics

See all basics examples on CodePen. Each part is rendered in a different section for a better understanding but in this article we keep the rendering in a div with an id of root which is more common in real life.

Components

React components are named functions that return HTML. If you have a project on your hardrive, you can split your work: 1 component equals 1 js file (Capitalized).

For instance:

in App.css

.red {color: red}

in Hello.js

function Hello() {
return <h2>Hello World!</h2>
}

export default Hello;

in App.js

import Hello from './Hello'
import './App.css';

function App() {
  return <>
   <h1 className="red">This is the App Name</h1>
    <Hello/>
  </>
}

Will be translated as:

<div id="root">
<h1 class="red">This is the App Name</h1>
<h2>Hello World!</h2>
</div>

Observations:

  • Use <> and </> fragment to enclose your code if there's no HTML tag to encapsulate it.
  • You can call a component in another
  • The HTML class attribute has to be changed to className because class is a reserved keyword in JavaScript (and so, in JSX)
  • Vanilla HTML would have be enough for this example

Props & children

Components can recieve properties (which would act as function arguments) from element's attributes. For instance:

function Yummy(prop) {
return <p>I love {prop.treat}!</p>  
}

ReactDOM.render(
<React.StrictMode>
<Yummy treat="cookies" />
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("root")
)

prop will regroup all attributes and children that where provided in an object, this is why we use the dot notation un Yummy fonction. If there's only a few attributes, we can just import in the function the needed key:

function Yummy( {treat, children} ) {
return <p>I love {treat}! {children ? <strong>{children}</strong> : "Reasonably."}</p>
}

ReactDOM.render(
<React.StrictMode>
<Yummy treat="chocolate">
<em>Too much, actually.</em>
</Yummy>
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("root")
)

Note that the code to be treated as JavaScript should be within curly braces. Methods (functions) can be passed as properties.

Events

Let's have a look at this example for W3schools:

function Football() {
  const shoot = (a) => {
    alert(a);
  }
 
    return (
    <button onClick={() => shoot("Goal!")}>Take the shot!</button>
  );
}

ReactDOM.render(
<React.StrictMode>
<Football />
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("root")
)

Observations:

  • events are written in camelCase syntax (onClick instead of onclick)
  • event handlers are written inside curly braces
  • to pass arguments we need to use an arrow function

Conditional rendering

In this example, also from W3schools, we use two methods: && operator and ternary operator. We could also have used a classic if/else statement based on a prop value for instance (if prop is true, show this, else, show that).

function Garage(props) {
const cars = props.cars;
const message = `You have ${cars.length} cars in your garage.`;

return (
<>
<h3>Garage</h3>
{cars.length > 0 &&
<p>
Using && :<br/>
{message}
</p>
}

{
cars.length > 0 ?
<p>Using ternary operator :<br/>{message}</p> :
null
}
</>
);
}

const listofcars = [
{id: 1, brand: 'Ford'},
{id: 2, brand: 'BMW'},
{id: 3, brand: 'Audi'}
]

ReactDOM.render(
<React.StrictMode>
<Garage cars={listofcars} />
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("root")
)

Note: to use a variable within a string, nest the string intro backticks (`) and let you variable into curly brackets be preceded by a $ sign.

Keys

Use key for re-rendering only the element of a list that has been updated. Using the same listofcars constant from above as well as the map JavaScript method (which iterates every item of provided list):

function Car(props) {
return <li>{ props.brand }</li>;
}

function Vroum() {
return (
<>
<h1>List of cars</h1>
<ul>
{listofcars.map((listofcars) => <Car key={listofcars.id} brand={listofcars.brand} />)}
</ul>
</>
);
}

ReactDOM.render(
<React.StrictMode>
<Vroum />
  </React.StrictMode>,
  document.getElementById("root")
)

Hooks

Hooks connects rendering to particular changes which will be described here after. They replace class components since version 16.8. They can be customed, otherwise some are pre-made. All examples comes from W3Schools and are available on this CodePen.

Import

First of all, if you have not imported all React features (using import * as React from...), import the hooks you need, for instance:

import { useState, useEffect } from "react";

Doing so you are destructuring useState from react and can use it as is (rather than specify React.useState like in CodePen).

And keep in mind these 3 rules from W3Schools:

  • Hooks can only be called inside React function components.
  • Hooks can only be called at the top level of a component.
  • Hooks cannot be conditional

In this article we'll just focus on three main hooks but feel free to explore the other existing ones (useContext, useReducer, useCallback, useMemo).

useState

Links a variable (its current state) to an updater function.

function App() {
const [color, setColor] = useState("yellow");
 
  return <>
    <p>My favorite color is {color}!</p>
    <button
        type="button"
        onClick={() => setColor("blue")}
      >Blue</button>
  </>
}

Observations:

  • to make the link, we use an array containing the variable and the function (commonly setVariablename)
  • useState("yellow") initiates the variable to the value "yellow" (a string)
  • read this variable in the return statement, simply calling it
  • update this variable with the function which contains "blue" as an argument (setting up a new state for color)

useState on an object

function App() {
  const [car, setCar] = useState({
    brand: "Ford",
    model: "Mustang",
    year: "1964",
    color: "red"
  });

  const updateColor = () => {
    setCar(previousState => {
      return { ...previousState, color: "blue" }
    });
  }

  return (
    <>
      <h1>My {car.brand}</h1>
      <p>
        It is a {car.color} {car.model} from {car.year}.
      </p>
      <button
        type="button"
        onClick={updateColor}
      >Blue</button>
    </>
  )
}

Observations:

  • we can read corresponding value of the object's property using the dot notation
  • we can't simply update a particular value in an object, we have to rewrite it (copy with ...previousState) and indicate the change afterwards. Otherwise the entire object will be replaced with the only pair color: "blue".

useEffect

Perform side effect like fetching data, updating DOM, play with timers and runs on every render. Don't forget the second parameter (an empty array or an array containing dependencies) which will prevent auto re-rendering.

function Counter() {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
const [calculation, setCalculation] = useState(0);

useEffect(() => {
    setCalculation(() => count * 2);
  }, [count]); // if count updates, update calculation variable

  return (
    <>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount((c) => c + 1)}>+</button>
      <p>Calculation: {calculation}</p>
    </>
  );
}

If there's a useEffect hook on a timer, it should be disposed to reduce memory leaks; for this name the te timer and use a return statement to clear it:

function Timer() {
const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

useEffect(() => {
    let timer = setTimeout(() => {
      setCount((count) => count + 1);
  }, 1000);

  return () => clearTimeout(timer)
  }, []);

  return <h1>I've rendered {count} times!</h1>;
}

useRef

Can be used to access a DOM element directly or to keep track of previous state value. useRef() returns an object called current which should be intialized.

DOM pointer

function Pointer() {
const inputElement = useRef();

  const focusInput = () => {
    inputElement.current.focus();
  };

  return (
    <>
      <input type="text" ref={inputElement} />
      <button onClick={focusInput}>Focus Input</button>
    </>
  );
}

Using useRef, we associate the inputElement variable and the HTML element which have a ref attribute containing the variable's name. This is useful when we can't use getElementBySomething because the real DOM is not already built.

Previous state

function Before() {
const [inputValue, setInputValue] = useState("");
const previousInputValue = useRef("");

useEffect(() => {
    previousInputValue.current = inputValue;
  }, [inputValue]);

  return (
   <>
      <input
        type="text"
        value={inputValue}
        onChange={(e) => setInputValue(e.target.value)}
      />
      <h2>Current Value: {inputValue}</h2>
      <h2>Previous Value: {previousInputValue.current}</h2>
   </>
  );
}

Both inputValue and previousInputValue are initialized to an empty string. Each time there's an event (e) in the input field:

  • inputValue is updated via the setInputValue useState function and the variable equals field's content
  • as inputValue is changed and as it's a depedancy, useEffect comes in and replaces the value of current property to be equal to the inputValue. It is not re-rendered until there's another event in the input field.

We're done for now! Happy coding


jQuery at a glance

August 7, 2023 Reading time: 9 minutes

What

A very popular JavaScript library which offers a lot of methods for common tasks. It includes useful features such as:

  • HTML/DOM manipulation
  • CSS manipulation
  • HTML event methods
  • Effects and animations
  • AJAX
  • Utilities

How

  1. Download or use CDN such as Google's in head section:
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.6.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
  2. And start using jQuery methods in a separate document when all DOM is built
    $(document).ready(function(){
      // jQuery methods go here...
    });
    Using jQuery within the document calling it is also fine, it's just a suggestion for clarity.

Syntax

Basic syntax

Basic syntax is: $(selector).action();

The selector is mainly CSS (for instance "#id") but can also be the keyword this to find the current element.

Event syntax

Event syntax is: $(selector).eventname();

Use vanilla JavaScript event names. A noticable special event would be hover() (combination of mouseenter() and mouseleave())

Chaining

Run multiple jQuery methods by chaining them:

$(selector)
     .action1()
     .action2
     .action3

(indentation and line breaks are fine)

Selection of methods

Effects

$(selector).hide(speed,callback); (same goes with .show() and .toggle(), parameters are optional)

DOM Manipulation

Get or set existing nodes

$(selector).text(); // the text content of selected element
$(selector).html(); // the HTML content of selected element
$(selector).val(); // the value of form fields
$(selector).attribute("attributename"); // the attribue value

Without parameters, you'll get. For setting, pass a parameter

$("#test1").text("Hello world!");
$("#test1").attribute("href", "https://another.website");

Note that .text, .html and .val methos come with a callback function having 3 parameters: the index of the current element in the list of elements selected and the original value. For instance:

 $("#test").html(function(i, origText){
    return "Old html: " + origText + " New html: Hello <b>world!</b>
    (index: " + i + ")";
  });

Add or remove nodes

To add content at the end of the selected element, use .append("new content") and use .prepend("new content") to add at the begining of the select element.

You can also target the position right after the targeted element with .after() and before with... .before().

The methods acceps several parameters.

Remove the selected element with .remove() or remove all childs within the selected element  with .empty().

You can also filter down what should be removed by passing one or more CSS selectors, separated with comas, as a parameter $("p").remove(".test, .demo"); .

CSS Manipulation

$(selector).addClass(); // add class (could be several)
$(selector).removeClass(); // remove class (could be several)
$(selector).toggleClass(); // adds or remove class given
$(selector).css("propertyname"); // the property value

Separator between classes is a blank space $("#div1").addClass("important blue");

In .css method, if you want to pass property + value, use this syntax:

  • single: $("p").css("background-color", "yellow");
  • multiple: $("p").css({"background-color": "yellow", "font-size": "200%"});

DOM navigation

Basic syntax  $(selector).relation();

It is possible to add an optional parameter (a CSS selector) to filter the search.

Up tree

$(selector).parent() // returns direct parent element
$(selector).parents() // returns all ancestor elements up to document's root
$(selector).parentsUntil("div") // returns all ancestor elements in between

Down tree

$(selector).children() // returns all direct children
$(selector).find() // returns all descendant elements down to last descendant

Right / left tree

  • siblings() // all sibling elements
  • next() // next sibling element
  • nextAll() // all next siblings elements
  • nextUntil() // all siblings in between
  • prev() // previous sibling element
  • prevAll() // all previous siblings elements
  • prevUntil() // all siblings in between (backwards)

Filter

Most basic filtering methods are first(), last() and eq() to select a specific element based on its position.

And also of course filter(): elements that don't match are removed from the selection and not(): the opposite.

AJAX

load

Load data from a server and return it in the selected element: $(selector).load(URL,data,callback);

Optional callback function can have these three parameters:

  • responseTxt - resulting content if the call succeeds
  • statusTxt - status of the call
  • xhr - XMLHttpRequest object

Example from W3schools.com:

$("button").click(function(){
$("#div1").load("demo_test.txt", function(responseTxt, statusTxt, xhr){
if(statusTxt == "success")
alert("External content loaded successfully!");
if(statusTxt == "error")
alert("Error: " + xhr.status + ": " + xhr.statusText);
});
});

get / post

You can also exchange data with a sever using an HTTP request (GET or POST).

$.get(URL,callback);
$.post(URL,data,callback);


zoom on some HTML tags

August 6, 2023 Reading time: 11 minutes

I'm taking w3schools HTML course as a refresher and I learned a few things along the way.

quotations

I knew about blockquote but not sure about the other two.

Quote from another source:

  • use blockquote tag with cite attribute containing URL to the source
  • browser behaviour: usually indent

Short inline quote:

  • use q tag
  • browser behaviour: usually add quotation mark

Indicate the title of a work:

  • use cite tag
  • browser behaviour: usually render in italic

td

td stands for table data! th (table header) and tr (table row) were clear to me but I always wondered why a table cell was written "td". Now I can properly read the code in my head haha

image size

In the img tag, prefer using style attribute with width and height properties inside rather than width and height attributes. style attribute takes precedence over the style defined in the linked CSS file (for instance max-width: 100%;) or at the HTML page level, but width and height attributes come second.

W3Schools recommends to always specify the width and height of an image. If not, the web page might flicker while the image loads.

picture

This element is new to me. Inside you can define a list of images to display acording to the screen size, so to save bandwith and cover different format supporting from the browsers. It should always ends with an img tag. For instance (from W3Schools):

<picture>
  <source media="(min-width: 650px)" srcset="img_food.jpg">
  <source media="(min-width: 465px)" srcset="img_car.jpg">
  <img src="img_girl.jpg" style="width:auto;">
</picture>

lists

Can't always remember of dl (description list) with dt (term) and a dd (description), so now it's somewhere on this blog.

Also, it's good to now that there's a type attribute for ordered list (ol) to specify the type of the list item marker:

  • type="1" for number marker (default)
  • type="A" for uppercase letter marker
  • type="a" for lowercase letter marker
  • type="I" for uppercase roman number marker
  • type="i" for lowercase roman number marker

As well as a start attribute to chose from which number to start.

iframe

iframe stand for inline frame. It is used to embed another document in current document (just like a Youtube video for instance). Don't forget title attribute for screen readers. Default display will add borders so make sure you remove them with CSS or style attribute.

An iframe can be the target of a link, just refer to it with it's name: (example from W3Schools):

<iframe src="demo_iframe.htm" name="iframe_a" title="Iframe Example"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.w3schools.com" target="iframe_a">W3Schools.com</a></p>

noscript

Don't forget to let the user know JavaScript is needed for this or this functionnality with noscript tag:

<noscript>Sorry but the game relies on JavaScript. Have a look at your browser's settings if you wish to play it.</noscript>

list of semantic elements and definition

From W3Schools.

  • article -> defines an independent, self-contained content
  • details -> defines additional details that the user can open and close on demand
  • summary -> defines a heading for the details element
  • figcaption -> defines a caption for a <figure> element. The <figcaption> element can be placed as the first or as the last child of a <figure> element.
  • figure -> defines self-contained content, like illustrations, diagrams, photos, code listings, etc.
  • img -> defines the actual image/illustration
  • mark -> defines marked/highlighted text
  • time -> defines a date/time

Landmarks

Landmarks define some parts of the page to jump to with the help of a screen reader #accessibility

  • header -> defines a header for a document or a section
  • nav -> defines a set of navigation links
  • main -> defines the main content of a document. Should be unique.
  • aside -> defines content aside from the content (like a sidebar)
  • section -> defines a section in a document
  • footer -> defines a footer for a document or a section

A section can include article and an article section, depends of the content.

A header can be found in several zones in an HTML document except in a footer, address or header element.

A footer is also repeatable in the HTML document.

Note that a button element should be used for any interaction that performs an action on the current page. The a element should be used for any interaction that navigates to another view.

kbd

kbd stands for keyboard inuput. Default browser's display is monospace font.

Use lowercase for file names

Some web servers (Apache, Unix) are case sensitive about file names: "london.jpg" cannot be accessed as "London.jpg".

Other web servers (Microsoft, IIS) are not case sensitive: "london.jpg" can be accessed as "London.jpg".

time

Nesting time or duration information into a time element is useful for any automatic reading of a page, from a search engine for instance.

I'll be celebrating my birthday on <time datetime="2024-09-21T20:00">September 21<sup>st</sup></time> for <time datetime="PT2H30M">2h30m</time>.

Bootstrap at a glance

July 28, 2023 Reading time: 10 minutes

What

A free CSS framework to work with when time supply is running low.

Version 3 is the most stable version, supported by all modern browsers.

How

Bootstrap is a combination of pre-written CSS and JavaScript (jQuery) files, both available from a CDN. To access it, add reference to head element:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.4.1/css/bootstrap.min.css">
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.6.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.4.1/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>

Where

Some code snippets are available on my dedicated CodePen

Basic structure

A section needs a container class

Encapsulate your section into a container class which can be either:

  • container (fixed width container) OR
  • container-fluid (full width container)

A section is 12 columns-wide

Group elements in a row with row class then distribute included elements into columns per screen size with col-screenSize-numberOfColumns class. An additionnal well class would add grey background color and rounded border to the zone.

size would be:

  • xs for phones - screens less than 768px wide / extra-small
  • sm for tablets - screens equal to or greater than 768px wide / small
  • md for small laptops - screens equal to or greater than 992px wide / medium
  • lg for laptops and desktops - screens equal to or greater than 1200px wide / large

numberOfColumns is a number between 1 and 12. A row should have a total of 12 colums for each screenSize.

For instance, if we want to align 3 buttons in a row, it means 1 button should be 4 colums wide (3 * 4 = 12).

<div class="row">
<div class="col-xs-4 col-md-4 col-lg-4 well">
  <button>1</button>
 </div>
<div class="col-xs-4 col-md-4 col-lg-4 well">
  <button>2</button>
 </div>
<div class="col-xs-4 col-md-4 col-lg-4 well">
  <button>3</button>
 </div>
</div>

Navbar

Add a static navbar to the top of the page with your website's name, dropdowns, collapsable for small screens, align sign in button to the right and so on. Have a look on CodePen.

Basic classes

Contextual Colors and Backgrounds

Classes for colors are:

  • element-muted
  • element-primary
  • element-success
  • element-info
  • element-warning
  • element-danger

element could be text, bg, alert, btn

Image and image gallery

Some useful class for img element:

  • img-thumbnail: adds some rounded borders and padding
  • img-responsive: applies display: block, max-width: 100% and height: auto.

To create a gallery, combine thumbnail class with Bootstrap grid system:

  • create an element with container class
  • within the container, create as many elements with row class as you need
  • within each row, divide the space into as many colums as you need (col-screenSize-numberOfColumns)
  • within each colum, apply thumbnail class to a wrapper element such as figure that will contain a link to the image source full size that will itself contain
    • the image element
    • a figcaption element

Create an 'alert' element

Show the user some confirmation or alert message within an element, such as a div. Apply alert class to an element in addition with a alert-contextualColor class (see above) and alert-dismissible class to allow user to remove the element. Removal can be smoothened with fade and in classes. For instance:

<div class="alert alert-success alert-dismissible fade in">
  <a href="#" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="close">&times;</a>
  <strong>Success!</strong> Indicates a successful or positive action.
</div>

Customize button, a, input

Basic classes to apply on a button, a or input elements are:

  • btn and
  • btn-default (display as wide as the text it contains) OR
  • btn-block (as wide as 100% of the available width (breaks on a new line))

Then add if needed:

  • color: btn-contextualColor
  • size: btn-size

a & button groups

A collection of share links can typically be grouped on a single line with btn-group or btn-group-vertical (+ -size if needed) applied on wrapper element.


functions

April 13, 2023 Reading time: 5 minutes

Dividing the code into functions is essential.

Basically, a function can take an input (from zero to several parameters - a parameter can be a function) and provide a result whenever it's called.

In JavaScript, a function is a value.

Named function

Declaration

A declared function is visible in the whole script.

function sayHello() {
console.log("hello")
}

The function name is usually a verb briefly describing the action. One function should do one action. Here's how to call it:

sayHello() // consols "hello"

Return

When reached, the return keyword makes the function stop and returns the results if any (default return value is undefined)

function checkAge(age) {  return age >= 18 ? true : false;}
checkAge(18) // returns true
checkAge(10) // returns false

A function can update variables without returning anything. For instance (from FreeCodeCamp) :

let sum = 0;

function addSum(num) {
  sum = sum + num;
}

addSum(3); // sum variable now equals 3
console.log(addSum(3)) // returns undefined

Default parameter value

Consider this function expecting three parameters:

function add(a, b, c) {  
return a + b + c
}

If a parameter is not passed on, it's value is considered as undefined.

add(4, 2) // returns NaN (Not a Number)

You can specify a default value if the parameter is omitted:

function addition(a, b, c = 0) {  
return a + b + c
}
add(4, 2) // returns 6

Rest parameter

The rest parameter (...param) is useful if we want a function to work with a variable number of arguments. Arguments passed this way are stored as an array. Check out this example:

function howMany(...args) {
  return args.length;
}
console.log(howMany(0, 1, 2)); // returns 3
console.log(howMany("string", null, [1, 2, 3], { })); // returns 4

JSON object parameter

If parameter order does not matter, you can use a JSON object as a parameter:

function myFunction(params) {
  // do something
}

myFunction( { prop1: value1, prop2: value2 } );

Anonymous function

Anonymous or expressed functions are useful when we don't need to re-use them anywhere else in the code. It exists once it's reached. Here are two use-cases with possible syntax:

Calculate a value and pass it to a variable

Examples from FreeCodeCamp:

const myFunc = function() {
  const myVar = "value";
  return myVar;
}

With ES6 it can be shortened into an arrow function:

const myFunc = () => {
  const myVar = "value";
  return myVar;
}

Note that if we only want a value to be returned, then "return" keyword as well as brackets surrounding the code can be omitted.

const myFunc = () => "value";

If we need to pass arguments, the same principle as for named functions applies, except than parenthesis enclosing the parameter can be omitted if there's only one parameter:

const doubler = item => item * 2;
doubler(4);

const multiplier = (item, multi) => item * multi;
multiplier(4, 2);

Create an objet

Consider this object literal declaration (from FreeCodeCamp) which returns an object containing two properties:

const getMousePosition = (x, y) => ({
  x: x,
  y: y
});

Since ES6 a syntactic sugar exists. It eliminates the redundancy:

const getMousePosition = (x, y) => ({ x, y });

Here, x will be converted to x: x.

Auto-executed function

Write the function into parenthesis and call it at the end with parenthesis as well. This is call a IIFE notation.

(function(a) {
  console.log(a);
})("hey");

regex

March 15, 2023 Reading time: 11 minutes

These past few weeks I learned about regular expressions. Here's a recap! Almost all examples come from FreeCodeCamp.

Methods

Test method

let stringToTest = "a string";
let regEx = /pattern/;
regEx.test(stringToTest); // returns false

returns true or false depending if the pattern is found or not

Match method

let ourStr = "Regular expressions";
let ourRegex = /expressions/;
ourStr.match(ourRegex); // returns ["expressions"]

returns an extraction of the string that matches the provided pattern.

Replace method

let wrongText = "The sky is silver.";
let silverRegex = /silver/;
wrongText.replace(silverRegex, "blue"); // returns "The sky is blue"

searches for the described pattern and replacing it by a value of your choice.

You can also access capture groups in the replacement string with dollar signs ($) (see group capture in Patterns/Group elements/Reuse group).

"Code Camp".replace(/(\w+)\s(\w+)/, '$2 $1'); // returns "Camp Code"

Positive and negative lookahead

This is actually not a method but a special pattern to look ahead in the string for patterns further along. It won't match the element.

Use (?=...) to verify the element ("...") is there

Use (?!=...) to verify the element ("...") is not there

let quit = "qu";
let noquit = "qt";
let quRegex= /q(?=u)/;
let qRegex = /q(?!u)/;
quit.match(quRegex); // returns ["q"] ("u" is there)
noquit.match(qRegex); // returns ["q"] ("u" is not there)

Greedy vs lazy matching

This is not a method either but note that regular expressions are by default greedy meaning they will find the longest possible part of a string that fits the regex pattern and returns it as a match.

let string = "titanic";
let regEx = /t[a-z]*i/;
string.match(regEx); // returns "titani"

You can use ? to change it to lazy matching meaning the regular expression will find the shortest possible part of the string.

let string = "titanic";
let regEx = /t[a-z]*?i/;
string.match(regEx); // returns "ti"

Flags

Append flag right after the end of a pattern (//) if you need to extend the search to the whole string and/or ignore letter case.

Global search

Use g flag to search or extract a pattern more than once.

let testStr = "Repeat, Repeat, Repeat";
let repeatRegex = /Repeat/g;
testStr.match(ourRegex); // returns ["Repeat", "Repeat", "Repeat"]

Ignore case

Use i flag to ignore letter case (ie the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters).

let repeatRegex = /ignorecase/i;

This regex can match the strings ignorecase, igNoreCase, and IgnoreCase.

Multiple flags

Just concatenate them, for instance

let regEx = /search/gi

Patterns

Define a character set (aka character class)

Define a character set between square brackets []

Inside, define a list of character or a range of characters, using a hyphen character - to seperate from and to elements. Letters and numbers can be combined.

let regEx1 = /aeiu/
let regEx2 = /[a-e]/
let regEx3 = /[3-9]/
let regEx4 = /[a-e3-9]/

let catStr = "cat";
let batStr = "bat";
let matStr = "mat";
let bgRegex = /[a-e]at/;
catStr.match(bgRegex); // returns ["cat"]
batStr.match(bgRegex); // returns ["bat"]
matStr.match(bgRegex); // returns null

Negate a character set

Add ^ at the beginning of the character set you want to negate

let regEx = /[^aeiou]/gi // matches everything that is not a vowel

Group elements

Use () to group elements

let testStr = "Pumpkin";
let testRegex = /P(engu|umpk)in/;
testRegex.test(testStr); // Returns true

Reuse group

A group is saved as a temporary "variable" that can be accessed within the same regex using a backlash and the number of the captured group (e.g. \1). The number corresponds to the position of their opening parentheses, starting at 1.

let repeatStr = "row row row your boat";
let repeatRegex = /(\w+) \1 \1/;
repeatRegex.test(repeatStr); // Returns true
repeatStr.match(repeatRegex); // Returns ["row row row", "row"]

Possible existence of an element

Use ? right after the element

let american = "color";
let british = "colour";
let rainbowRegex= /colou?r/;
rainbowRegex.test(american); // Returns true
rainbowRegex.test(british); // Returns true

Alternative element

Use | (OR operator) between each element

let regEx = /yes|no/

Any element

Use wildcard character . to match any one character

let humStr = "I'll hum a song";
let hugStr = "Bear hug";
let huRegex = /hu./;
huRegex.test(humStr); // returns true
huRegex.test(hugStr); // returns true

Litteral string

Type the string you're looking for between / and /

let testStr = "Hello, my name is Kevin.";
let testRegex = /Kevin/;
testRegex.test(testStr); // returns true

All letters, numbers and underscore

Use \w

let longHand = /[A-Za-z0-9_]+/;
let shortHand = /\w+/;

For everything but letters, numbers and underscore, use \W (short hand for [^A-Za-z0-9_])

All numbers

Use \d

let longHand = /[0-9]/;
let shortHand = /\d/;

For all non-numbers, use \D (short hand for [^0-9])

Whitespace characters

Use \s to look for whitespace, carriage return (\r), tab (\t), form feed (\f), new line (\n) and vertical tab (\v)

let longHand = /[\r\t\f\n\v]/;
let shortHand = /\s/;

For non-whitespace, use \S (shorthand for [^ \r\t\f\n\v])

Define beginning and/or end of a pattern

Beginning

Use ^ outside of a character set and at the beginning of the regex

let firstString = "Ricky is first and can be found.";
let notFirst = "You can't find Ricky now.";
let firstRegex = /^Ricky/;
firstRegex.test(firstString); // returns true
firstRegex.test(notFirst); // returns false

Ending

Use $ at the end of the regex

let theEnding = "This is a never ending story";
let storyRegex = /story$/;
storyRegex.test(theEnding); // returns true
let noEnding = "Sometimes a story will have to end";
storyRegex.test(noEnding); // returns false

Occurencies

One or more times

Use + right after the character than can be found one or more times

let string1 = "abc"
let string2 = "aabc"
let string3 = "abab"
let regEx = /a+/g
string1.match(regEx); // returns [ 'a' ]
string2.match(regEx); // returns [ 'aa' ]
string3.match(regEx); // returns [ 'a', 'a' ]

Zero or more times

Use * right after the character that can be found zero or more times

let soccerWord = "gooooooooal!";
let gPhrase = "gut feeling";
let oPhrase = "over the moon";
let goRegex = /go*/;
soccerWord.match(goRegex); // returns ["goooooooo"]
gPhrase.match(goRegex); // returns ["g"]
oPhrase.match(goRegex); // returns null

Number of matches

Exact number

Specify a certain number of patterns using curly bracket {}

let A4 = "haaaah";
let A3 = "haaah";
let A100 = "h" + "a".repeat(100) + "h";
let multipleHA = /ha{3}h/;
multipleHA.test(A4); // returns false
multipleHA.test(A3); // returns true
multipleHA.test(A100); // returns false

Lower number

To only specify the lower number of patterns, keep the first number followed by a comma.

let A4 = "haaaah";
let A2 = "haah";
let A100 = "h" + "a".repeat(100) + "h";
let multipleA = /ha{3,}h/;
multipleA.test(A4); // returns true
multipleA.test(A2); // returns false
multipleA.test(A100); // returns true

Lower and upper number

Put two numbers between the curly brackets, separated by a comma - for the lower and upper number of patterns.

let A4 = "aaaah";
let A2 = "aah";
let multipleA = /a{3,5}h/;
multipleA.test(A4); // returns true
multipleA.test(A2); // returns false