How do you get a specific letter from a string javascript?

Examples

Get the first character in a string:

let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let letter = text.charAt[0];

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Get the second character in a string:

let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let letter = text.charAt[1];

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Get the last character in a string:

let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let letter = text.charAt[text.length-1];

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More examples below.

Definition and Usage

The charAt[] method returns the character at a specified index [position] in a string.

The index of the first character is 0, the second 1, ...

Syntax

Parameters

Return Value

More Examples

Index out of range returns empty string:

let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let letter = text.charAt[15];

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Default index is 0:

let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let letter = text.charAt[];

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Invalid index converts to 0:

let text = "HELLO WORLD";
let letter = text.charAt[3.14];

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Browser Support

charAt[] is an ECMAScript1 [ES1] feature.

ES1 [JavaScript 1997] is fully supported in all browsers:

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How do you find a character in a string, using JavaScript?

How do you find a character in a string, using JavaScript?

You have one easy way.

Every string has an includes[] method that accepts one [or more] characters.

This method returns true if the string contains the character, and false if not:

'a nice string'.includes['a'] //true
'a nice string'.includes['b'] //false

If you need to find the exact position of the letter in the string, however, you need to use the indexOf[] method:

'a nice string'.indexOf['a'] //0
'a nice string'.indexOf['c'] //4

If there are more than one occurrence, this method returns the position of the first one it finds, starting from the left.

There's a few parts to what you're trying to accomplish. You've already gotten your string:

const myString = someDOMFunction[]; // 'This is my string'

Next you need to find the position or "index" of the first 's' in that string:

const sIndex = myString.indexOf['s']; // 3

you can then use that index to split the string into two parts:

const leftPart = myString.substr[0, sIndex]; // 'Thi'
const rightPart = myString.substr[sIndex + 1]; // ' is my string'

Finally you can build a string of HTML [and CSS] which includes those two parts, using template string syntax:

const html = `${leftPart}s${rightPart}`;

... and then add that HTML back onto the page, for instance:

$['#someElement'].innerHTML = html;

Check if String contains a Character #

Use the String.includes[] method to check if a string contains a character, e.g. if [str.includes[char]] {}. The include[] method will return true if the string contains the provided character, otherwise false is returned.

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const str = 'Hello world';
const char = 'e';

console.log[str.includes[char]]; // 👉️ true

if [str.includes[char]] {
  // 👉️ string contains the character
}

We used the String.includes method to determine if the character is contained in the string.

This works with special characters as well, e.g. emojis:

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const str = 'Hello world 🐔';
const char = '🐔';

console.log[str.includes[char]]; // 👉️ true

if [str.includes[char]] {
  // 👉️ string contains the character
}

If you need to perform a case insensitive check, for whether a character is contained in a string, convert the string and the character to lowercase when calling String.includes.

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const str = 'Hello world';
const char = 'L';

// 👇️ true
console.log[str.toLowerCase[].includes[char.toLowerCase[]]];

if [str.toLowerCase[].includes[char.toLowerCase[]]] {
  // 👉️ string contains the character
}

We performed a case-insensitive check by converting the string and the character to lowercase when calling the includes method.

Alternatively, you can use the String.indexOf method.

Use the String.indexOf[] method to check if a string contains a character, e.g. if [str.indexOf[char] !== -1] {}. The indexOf method will return the index of the character in the string or -1 if the character is not contained in the string.

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const str = 'Hello world';
const char = 'l';

// 👇️ 2
console.log[str.indexOf[char]];

if [str.indexOf[char] !== -1] {
  // 👉️ string contains the character
}

We used the indexOf method to check if a string contains a character.

If there is no match, the String.indexOf method returns -1.

Our if statement checks if the indexOf returned a value other than -1. If it did, the character is contained in the string.

Which approach you pick is a matter of personal preference. I'd go with the includes method as I find it more direct and intuitive.

Further Reading #

• Check if String contains Special Characters in JavaScript
• Remove Special Characters from a String in JavaScript
• Check if String contains only Letters and Numbers in JS
• Check if String contains only Letters and Spaces in JS
• Check if String contains only Latin Letters in JavaScript
• Check if String contains only Digits in JavaScript
• Check if String contains only Spaces in JavaScript
• Check if String contains only Letters in JavaScript
• Check if a String is all Uppercase in JavaScript
• Check if a String ends with a Number in JavaScript
• Check if String starts with Substring in JavaScript
• Check if String contains any Letter in JavaScript

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