Sometimes, we want to remove a leading comma from a JavaScript string.
In this article, we’ll look at how to remove a leading comma from a JavaScript string.
Using the String.prototype.substring Method
We can use the JavaScript string substring method to get the part of a string.
Therefore, we can use it to return a string without the leading comma.
For instance, we can write:
const myOriginalString = ",'first string','more','even more'";
const newString = myOriginalString.substring(1);
console.log(newString)
We call substring with 1 to return a string the part of myOriginalString from index 1 to the end.
Therefore, newString is "’first string’,’more’,’even more’” .
Using the String.prototype.split Method
We can use the JavaScript string split method to split a string by a separator string.
For instance, we can write:
const myOriginalString = ",'first string','more','even more'";
const [_, ...rest] = myOriginalString.split(',');
const newString = rest.join(',')
console.log(newString)
We call split with ',' to split myOriginalString by the comma.
Then we use the rest operator to get a string array with anything but the first comma.
And then we call join with ',' to join the strings in rest with the comma.
And so newString has the same value as before.
Using the String.prototype.replace Method
Another way to remove the leading commas from a string is to use the JavaScript string’s replace method.
For example, we can write:
const myOriginalString = ",'first string','more','even more'";
const newString = myOriginalString.replace(/^,/, '');
console.log(newString)
We call replace with /^,/ to replace the leading comma with an empty string.
And so newString is the same as before.
Conclusion
We can use various string methods to get rid of the leading comma from a string.
