Why can't I use Regex to evaluate if...else statement

Question

I'm trying to use regex to evaluate whether the newArray at index 0 is equivalent to the value stored in vowel. I know that this method doesn't work but I don't understand why. BTW I've just started learning how to code so I only really know Vanilla JS

function translate(val) {
    let newArray = Array.from(val)
    let vowel = /^[aeiouy]/gi
    let consonant = /[^aeiouy]/
    if (newArray[0] == vowel) {
        return 'vowel';
    } else if (newArray[0] == consonant) {
        return 'consonant'
    } {
        return 'none';
    }
}
 translate('inglewood')

`newArray[0] == consonant` that's not how regex's are used ... use String .match or RegExp .test — Jaromanda X, Nov 09 '20 at 02:40

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 09 '20 at 02:40

You should be using the regex test method here:

function translate(val) {
    let vowel = /^[aeiouy]/gi;
    let consonant = /^[^aeiouy]/;
    if (vowel.test(val)) {
        return 'vowel';
    } else if (consonant.test(val)) {
        return 'consonant'
    } else {
        return 'none';
    }
}

console.log(translate('inglewood'));

Note: I don't see any point in using Array.from() here. Instead, we can just run test directly against an input string.

Thank you! This will actually make the next steps so much easier for me code! — soreti, Nov 09 '20 at 02:45

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 09 '20 at 02:40

You need to .test() the string with the regex

function translate(val) {
    let newArray = Array.from(val)
    let vowel = /^[aeiouy]/gi
    let consonant = /[^aeiouy]/

    if ( vowel.test( newArray[0] ) ) {
        return 'vowel';
    } else if ( consonant.test( newArray[0] ) ) {
        return 'consonant'
    } {
        return 'none';
    }
}
console.log( translate('inglewood') );

Why can't I use Regex to evaluate if...else statement

2 Answers2