JavaScript String Search Methods

In this article, we are going to learn the string search method in JavaScript. A string is a sequence of characters used to represent text or data, strings can be enclosed within single or double quotes. here we are using some common approaches to search for a particular string/character from our given string.

There are several approaches that can be used to search strings, which are listed below:

• Using search() Method
• Using match() Method
• Using the includes() Method
• Using startsWith() Method
• Using endsWith() Method
• Using lastIndexOf() Method

We will explore all the above methods along with their basic implementation with the help of examples.

Approach 1: Using the search() Method

In this approach, we are using the search() method, this method searches for a substring in a string and returns the index of the first occurrence, or -1 if not found.

Syntax:

str1.search( A )

Example: In this example, we are using the search() method to search computer words from our given string.

Javascript

let str1 = "GeeksforGeeks, A computer science portal";
let result = str1.search("computer");
console.log(result);

Output

17

Approach 2: Using match() Method

The match() method is an inbuilt function in JavaScript used to search a string for a match against any regular expression. it will return in array form.

Syntax:

str1.match( /word/g )

Example:

Javascript

let str1 = "GeeksforGeeks, A computer science portal";
let result = str1.match(/computer/g);
console.log(result);

Output

[ 'computer' ]

Approach 3: Using the includes() Method

The includes() method checks if a string contains a specific substring, returning true if found, false if not.

Syntax:

str1.includes( "word" )

Example: In this example, we are using the includes() method to find the specific word from our given string.

Javascript

let str1 = "GeeksforGeeks, A computer science portal";
let result = str1.includes("science");
console.log(result);

Output

true

Approach 4: Using startsWith() Method

The startsWith() method checks if a string starts with a specified substring, returning true if it matches, false otherwise.

Syntax:

str1.startsWith( "word" )

Example: In this example, we are using the startsWith() method to find our specific word from our given string.

Javascript

let str1 = "GeeksforGeeks, A computer science portal";
let result = str1.startsWith("GeeksforGeeks");
console.log(result);

Output

true

Approach 5: Using endsWith() Method

The endsWith() method checks if a string ends with a specified substring, returning true if it matches, false otherwise.

Syntax:

str1.endsWith( "word" )

Example: In this example, we are using endsWith() to find the last word from our given string

Javascript

let str1 = "GeeksforGeeks, A computer science portal";
let result = str1.endsWith("portal");
console.log(result);

Output

true

Approach 6: Using lastIndexOf() Method

The lastIndexOf() method searches for the last occurrence of a substring in a string and returns its index or -1 if not found.

Syntax:

str1.lastIndexOf( "word" )

Example: In this example, we are using the lastIndexOf() method to find the index of a given string.

Javascript

let str1 = "GeeksforGeeks, A computer science portal";
let result = str1.lastIndexOf("A");
console.log(result);

Output

15