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/JavaScript

string.length

The length property represents the length of a string.

Syntax

str.length

Description

This property returns the number of code units in the string. UTF-16, the string format used by JavaScript, uses a single 16-bit code unit to represent the most common characters, but needs to use two code units for less commonly-used characters, so it's possible for the value returned by length to not match the actual number of characters in the string.

For an empty string, length is 0.

The static property String.length returns the value 1.

Examples

Basic usage

var x = 'Mozilla';
var empty = '';

console.log('Mozilla is ' + x.length + ' code units long');
/* "Mozilla is 7 code units long" */

console.log('The empty string has a length of ' + empty.length);
/* "The empty string has a length of 0" */

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
ECMAScript 1st Edition (ECMA-262) Standard Initial definition. Implemented in JavaScript 1.0.
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262)
The definition of 'String.prototype.length' in that specification.
Standard
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262)
The definition of 'String.prototype.length' in that specification.
Standard
ECMAScript 2017 Draft (ECMA-262)
The definition of 'String.prototype.length' in that specification.
Draft

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
Feature Android Chrome for Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)

See also

© 2005–2017 Mozilla Developer Network and individual contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/length