Unlocking the Secrets of ASCII Values in JavaScript
What is ASCII?
ASCII, or American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a system of assigning unique numerical values to characters and symbols, allowing computers to store and manipulate them with ease. From the humble letter ‘A’ with a value of 65, to the cryptic symbols of the keyboard, each character has its own distinct ASCII value.
Finding ASCII Values with JavaScript
JavaScript provides two methods to uncover the ASCII values of characters: charCodeAt() and codePointAt(). Let’s dive into each of these methods and explore how they work.
Using charCodeAt()
The charCodeAt() method takes an index value as an argument and returns an integer representing the UTF-16 code of the character at that index. If no index is provided, it defaults to 0. But beware, if the index is out of range, the method returns NaN (Not a Number).
Example 1: Uncovering ASCII Values with charCodeAt()
In this example, we use charCodeAt() to find the ASCII value of a character. The output reveals the numerical value associated with the input character.
Beyond charCodeAt(): Introducing codePointAt()
The codePointAt() method returns a Unicode code point value, providing an alternative way to access ASCII values. This method also takes an index value as an argument, defaulting to 0 if none is provided. However, if the index is out of range, it returns undefined.
Example 2: Exploring ASCII Values with codePointAt()
In this example, we use codePointAt() to find the ASCII value of a character within a string. The output shows the numerical value associated with the first character of the input string.
By mastering these two methods, you’ll unlock the secrets of ASCII values in JavaScript, empowering you to manipulate and store characters with precision and ease.