To eliminate all characters except the first one(s) in a string, there is no requirement for regular expressions.
Simply utilize the .slice()
method:
'banana'.slice(0, 1);
// 'b'
You also have the option to directly access the first character by using the .charAt()
method:
'banana'.charAt(0);
// 'b'
If you prefer using the .replace()
method, you can implement the following approach:
'banana'.replace(/(^.).*/, '$1');
// 'b'
- In regular expressions, the
.
character matches any single character.
- The capture group
(^.)
captures the initial character of the string.
.*
matches zero or more instances of any character that follow (*
indicates zero or more occurrences).
- Thus, we are essentially substituting everything with the first captured group,
'$1'
.