To get the first N words from a string in JavaScript you can use the split() and slice() methods. You must know these skills if you are working with strings in Javascript.
Get the first N words from a string in JavaScript
Using split() and slice()
The slice() method will return the first N elements in an array starting from a specific index given.
Syntax:
split(separator)
Parameter:
- separator: The regex or a character to separate between words in a string.
slice(start, count)
Parameter:
- start: The starting point (index) of the first words (elements).
- count: The number of how many words you want to remove.
You can use the slice() function to get some elements starting from 0 index, which means removing the first N elements from an array.
let string = 'learn share it helps you with tutorials'
// Split the string into an array of words
let array = string.split(' ')
// Get the first 3 words from a string
array = array.slice(0,3)
console.log(array)
// Convert the array into a sentence
console.log(array.join(' '))Output:
['learn', 'share', 'it']
learn share itThe above example shows that we have an array containing 3 words (as in the output) after using the split() and slice(0,3) methods. In some cases, you may want to get the words sequentially as in a sentence; hence we have converted that array of 3 words back to a string using the join() method. However, this is not required because sometimes you may need an array of words rather than a concatenated string.
Using _.join() and_.split()
These two methods require the library lodash. To import this library, please declare this in your document:
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/lodash.min.js"></script>Syntax:
_.split(str, sep, len)
Parameters:
- str: the string you want the get first N words.
- sep: the separator in which distinguish between words in a string.
- len: the total number of words you want to split.
The lodash split() also works on a regex expression when your separators has a repetitive pattern such as one or many whitespaces.
let string = 'learn share it helps you with tutorials'
// Split the string into an array of first words
let array = _.split(string, / +/, 3)
console.log(array)Output:
['learn', 'share', 'it']If you want to get a sentence containing the first N words from a string, you can use the _.join() method.
Syntax:
_.join(arr, sep)
Parameters:
- arr: the array you want the convert into string.
- sep: the separator in which distinguishes between words in a string, by default it is equals to ‘,’ if not declared.
let string = 'learn share it helps you with tutorials'
// Split the string into an array of 3 first words
let array = _.split(string, / +/, 3)
console.log(array)
// Convert the array into a string of first 3 words with whitespace as separator
let sentence = _.join(array,' ')
console.log(sentence)Output:
['learn', 'share', 'it']
learn share itAlthough this solution need to import an external library, it produces the same results as the first one.
Summary
We have learned to get the first N words from a string in JavaScript in two different approaches. With the use of our guide in this tutorial, you can complete the task successfully. Good luck for you!
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I’m Edward Anderson. My current job is as a programmer. I’m majoring in information technology and 5 years of programming expertise. Python, C, C++, Javascript, Java, HTML, CSS, and R are my strong suits. Let me know if you have any questions about these programming languages.
Name of the university: HCMUT
Major: CS
Programming Languages: Python, C, C++, Javascript, Java, HTML, CSS, R
