JavaScript Strings

Strings are used for storing and manipulating text. A JavaScript string is a sequence of characters written with quotes.

Creating Strings

String Literals
let single   = 'Hello World';
let double   = "Hello World";
let backtick = `Hello World`;   // template literal

console.log(single);
console.log(double);
console.log(backtick);
console.log(typeof single);   // "string"

Template Literals (ES6)

Template literals use backticks. They support embedded expressions and multi-line strings.

Template Literals
const name = "Alice";
const age  = 30;

// String interpolation with ${}
const msg = `Hello, my name is ${name} and I am ${age} years old.`;
console.log(msg);

// Expressions inside ${}
console.log(`5 + 3 = ${5 + 3}`);

// Multi-line
const multiLine = `Line 1
Line 2
Line 3`;
console.log(multiLine);

String Length

length Property
let text = "Hello, World!";
console.log(text.length);    // 13
console.log("".length);      // 0

Escape Characters

SequenceMeaning
\\Backslash
\'Single quote
\"Double quote
\nNew line
\tTab
Escape Characters
let text1 = "He said, \"Hello!\"";
let text2 = 'It\'s a great day!';
let text3 = "Line 1\nLine 2";

console.log(text1);
console.log(text2);
console.log(text3);

Common String Methods

MethodWhat It Does
toUpperCase()Converts to uppercase
toLowerCase()Converts to lowercase
trim()Removes whitespace from both ends
includes(str)Returns true if str is found
startsWith(str)Returns true if starts with str
endsWith(str)Returns true if ends with str
indexOf(str)Returns first index of str, or -1
slice(start, end)Extracts part of a string
replace(old, new)Replaces first match
split(separator)Splits into an array
padStart(n, ch)Pads from start to reach length n
repeat(n)Repeats string n times
String Methods in Action
let str = "  Hello, World!  ";

console.log(str.trim());                      // "Hello, World!"
console.log(str.trim().toUpperCase());        // "HELLO, WORLD!"
console.log(str.trim().includes("World"));    // true
console.log(str.trim().slice(7, 12));         // "World"
console.log(str.trim().replace("World","JS")); // "Hello, JS!"
console.log("a,b,c".split(","));             // ["a", "b", "c"]
📝 Note: Strings are immutable — string methods return new strings and do not modify the original string.
Exercise:
Which string method returns the first index of a substring, or -1 if not found?
Try it YourselfCtrl+Enter to run
Click Run to see the output here.