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The String replace() method

Published Feb 11 2019

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Finds the first occurrence of str1 in the current string and replaces it with str2.

Returns a new string without mutating the original one.

'JavaScript'.replace('Java', 'Type') //'TypeScript'

You can pass a regular expression as the first argument:

'JavaScript'.replace(/Java/, 'Type') //'TypeScript'

replace() will only replace the first occurrence, unless you use a regex as the search string, and you specify the global (/g) option:

'JavaScript JavaX'.replace(/Java/g, 'Type') //'TypeScript TypeX'

The second parameter can be a function. This function will be invoked when the match is found (or for every match foundm if using a global regex /g), with a number of arguments:

• the string that matches the pattern
• an integer that specifies the position within the string where the match occurred
• the string

The return value of the function will replace the matched part of the string.

Example:

'JavaScript'.replace(/Java/, (match, index, originalString) => {
  console.log(match, index, originalString)
  return 'Test'
}) //TestScript

This also works for regular strings, not just regexes:

'JavaScript'.replace('Java', (match, index, originalString) => {
  console.log(match, index, originalString)
  return 'Test'
}) //TestScript

In case your regex has capturing groups, those values will be passed as arguments right after the match parameter:

'2015-01-02'.replace(/(?<year>\d{4})-(?<month>\d{2})-(?<day>\d{2})/, (match, year, month, day, index, originalString) => {
  console.log(match, year, month, day, index, originalString)
  return 'Test'
}) //Test

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