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Conversions

Figure 2-2

String literals are specified by using either double quotes (“) or single quotes (‘). This differs from Java,

where double quotes are used to specify strings and single quotes are used to specify characters. However,

because ECMAScript has no character type, it is permissible to use either notation. For example, the follow-

ing two lines are valid:

var sColor1 = “blue”;

var sColor2 = ‘blue’;

The string type also encompasses several character literals, which should be very familiar to Java, C, and

Perl developers. The following table lists the ECMAScript character literals:

Literal

Meaning

Newline

Tab

Backspace

Carriage return

Formfeed

Backslash

\’

Single quote

\”

Double quote

nnn

A character represented by octal code

nnn

(where

is an

octal digit 0-7)

A character represented by hexadecimal code

(where

is a hexadecimal digit 0-F)

\unnnn

A Unicode character represented by hexadecimal code

nnnn (where n is a hexadecimal digit 0-F)

Conversions

One of the most important features of any programming language is the capability to convert between

types, and ECMAScript provides developers with a number of easy conversion routines. Most types

contain methods that provide for simple conversion, and several global methods are available for more

complex conversion. In either case, type conversion is a short, one-step process in ECMAScript.

he l l o !

012345

Position

The string "hello!" has a length of 6.

ECMAScript Basics

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