Count the Number of Regex Matches using JavaScript

# Count the Number of Regex Matches in JavaScript

To count the number of regex matches:

1. Use the String.match() method to match a string against a regular expression.
2. The match() method returns an array of regex matches.
3. Access the length property on the array.

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const str = 'one two one one';

const count = (str.match(/one/g) || []).length;

console.log(count); // 👉️ 3

The String.match method matches a string against a regular expression.

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const str = 'one two one one';

const result = str.match(/one/g) || [];

console.log(result); // 👉️ [ 'one', 'one', 'one' ]

The forward slashes / / mark the beginning and end of the regular expression.

In the example, we search for the substring one.

If no matches of the regex are found in the string, the match() method returns null.

We used the logical OR (||) operator to provide a fallback value of an empty array because accessing the length property on a null value would cause an error.

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const str = 'one two one one';

const count = (str.match(/one/g) || []).length;

console.log(count); // 👉️ 3

The logical OR (||) operator returns the value to the right if the value to the left is falsy.

The falsy values are: null, undefined, false, 0, "" (empty string), NaN (not a number).

All other values are truthy.

# Common regular expressions

Here are some examples of commonly used regular expressions.

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// ✅ Any digit 0-9
const str = '123 hello 123';
const count = (str.match(/[0-9]/g) || []).length;
console.log(count); // 👉️ 6

// ✅ Any Alphanumeric character
const str2 = '123 hello !@#$%^&';
const count2 = (str2.match(/[a-zA-Z0-9]/g) || []).length;
console.log(count2); // 👉️ 8

// ✅ Any latin letters
const str3 = 'Hello 123';
const count3 = (str3.match(/[a-zA-Z]/g) || []).length;
console.log(count3); // 👉️ 5

// ✅ Occurrences of a, b or c
const str4 = 'abc123abc';
const count4 = (str4.match(/[abc]/g) || []).length;
console.log(count4); // 👉️ 6

The square brackets in the regular expression allow us to match ranges e.g. digit ranges - [0-9], or letter ranges - [a-zA-Z].

They also allow us to match either one of multiple characters, e.g. [abc] matches a, b, or c.

If you ever need help reading a regular expression, check out this regular expression cheatsheet by MDN.

It contains a table with the name and the meaning of each special character with examples.

# Count the Number of Regex Matches using RegExp.exec()

You can also use the RegExp.exec method to count the number of regex matches in a string.

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const str = 'one two one one';

let count = 0;
const regex = /one/g;

while (regex.exec(str) !== null) {
  count += 1;
}

console.log(count); // 👉️ 3

The exec() method is very similar to String.match().

It returns null if the match fails, otherwise, it returns an array with the match.

We used a while loop to iterate for as long as the method doesn't return null.

On each iteration, we increment the count variable by 1.

Notice that we used the let keyword when declaring the variable.

Variables declared using const cannot be reassigned.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• Replace/Remove characters that Don't match Regex in JS
• How to Split a String by a Regex in JavaScript
• SyntaxError: Invalid regular expression, Nothing to repeat