How to Convert a String to an Array with JavaScript

In this tutorial, we will look at four different ways to convert strings into arrays using JavaScript. Those ways include split(), Object.assign, Spread, and Array.from methods.

split()

To convert a string to an array with JavaScript, you can use the split() method. This method takes a delimiter string as an argument and returns an array of substrings.

Here is an example of how you might use the split() method to convert a string to an array:

// define a string with a space delimiter
let string = "hello world";

// convert the string to an array of substrings
let array = string.split(" ");

// log the array to the console
console.log(array); // ["hello", "world"]

In this example, we define a string called string with the value “hello world”. We then use the split() method to convert the string to an array of substrings, using a space character (” “) as the delimiter. This returns an array with two elements, “hello” and “world”, which are the substrings in the original string.

You can also use regular expressions as the delimiter for the split() method. Regular expressions provide a powerful and flexible way to specify the pattern that the delimiter should match in the original string.

Here is an example of how you might use a regular expression as the delimiter for the split() method:

// define a string with a space or comma delimiter
let string = "hello,world";

// convert the string to an array of substrings using a regular expression
let array = string.split(/[ ,]+/);

// log the array of substrings to the console
console.log(array); // ["hello", "world"]

In this example, we define a string called string with the value “hello,world”. We then use the split() method to convert the string to an array of substrings, using a regular expression as the delimiter. The regular expression /[ ,]+/ specifies that the delimiter should match one or more space or comma characters. This returns an array with two elements, “hello” and “world”, which are the substrings in the original string.

Object.assign

To convert a string to an array with JavaScript using the Object.assign() method, you can use the split() method in combination with the Object.assign() method. The split() method takes a delimiter string as an argument and returns an array of substrings. The Object.assign() method copies the values of all enumerable own properties from one or more source objects to a target object.

Here is an example of how you might use the split() and Object.assign() methods to convert a string to an array:

// define a string with a space delimiter
let string = "hello world";

// split the string into an array of substrings
let array = string.split(" ");

// create an empty object
let object = {};

// convert the array to an object using Object.assign()
Object.assign(object, array);

// log the object to the console
console.log(object); // { "0": "hello", "1": "world" }

In this example, we define a string called string with the value “hello world”. We then use the split() method to split the string into an array of substrings, using a space character (” “) as the delimiter. This returns an array with two elements, “hello” and “world”, which are the substrings in the original string.

Next, we create an empty object called object. We then use the Object.assign() method to copy the values of the elements in the array to the object. This converts the array to an object, where the keys are the indices of the elements in the array and the values are the elements themselves. The resulting object is { "0": "hello", "1": "world" }, which is the converted string as an object.

You can also use the Object.assign() method to convert an array of objects to an object, where the keys are the property values of the objects in the array and the values are the objects themselves.

Spread

To convert a string to an array with JavaScript using the spread operator (...), you can use the split() method in combination with the spread operator. The split() method takes a delimiter string as an argument and returns an array of substrings. The spread operator allows you to expand an iterable object (such as an array) into its individual elements.

Here is an example of how you might use the split() method and the spread operator to convert a string to an array:

// define a string with a space delimiter
let string = "hello world";

// split the string into an array of substrings
let array = string.split(" ");

// convert the array to an array using the spread operator
let spread = [...array];

// log the array to the console
console.log(spread); // ["hello", "world"]

In this example, we define a string called string with the value “hello world”. We then use the split() method to split the string into an array of substrings, using a space character (” “) as the delimiter. This returns an array with two elements, “hello” and “world”, which are the substrings in the original string.

Next, we use the spread operator (...) to expand the elements of the array into a new array called spread. This creates a new array with the same elements as the original array, which is the converted string as an array.

The spread operator allows you to expand the elements of an array into a new array and provides a simple and concise way to create arrays from strings.

Array.from()

To convert a string to an array with JavaScript using the Array.from() method, you can pass the string as an argument to the Array.from() method. The Array.from() method creates a new, shallow-copied Array instance from an array-like or iterable object.

Here is an example of how you might use the Array.from() method to convert a string to an array:

// define a string
let string = "hello world";

// convert the string to an array using Array.from()
let array = Array.from(string);

// log the array to the console
console.log(array); // ["h", "e", "l", "l", "o", " ", "w", "o", "r", "l", "d"]

In this example, we define a string called string with the value “hello world”. We then use the Array.from() method to convert the string to an array. This creates a new array with the individual characters of the string as elements, resulting in the array ["h", "e", "l", "l", "o", " ", "w", "o", "r", "l", "d"].

You can also use the Array.from() method to convert a string to an array of substrings, by passing a delimiter string as the second argument to the Array.from() method. The delimiter string specifies the original string’s characters that separate the substrings.

Here is an example of how you might use the Array.from() method to convert a string to an array of substrings:

// define a string with a space delimiter
let string = "hello world";

// convert the string to an array of substrings using Array.from()
let array = Array.from(string, x => x.split(" "));

// log the array of substrings to the console
console.log(array); // ["hello", "world"]

In this example, we define a string called string with the value “hello world”. We then use the Array.from() method to convert the string to an array of substrings, using a space character (” “) as the delimiter. This creates a new array with two elements, “hello” and “world”, which are the substrings in the original string.