How to split comma and semicolon separated string into a two-dimensional array in JavaScript ?

Let's say we have a variable "users" that contains the following string of text where each user is separated by a semicolon and each attribute of each users is separated by a comma ?

const users = 'Bob,1234,Bob@example.com;Mark,5678,Mark@example.com';

We are required to write a JavaScript function that takes in one such string and splits this into a multidimensional array that looks like this ?

const arr = [
   ['Bob', 1234, 'Bob@example.com'],
   ['Mark', 5678, 'Mark@example.com']
];

Method 1: Using split() and for Loop

The most straightforward approach is to first split by semicolons to get individual records, then split each record by commas:

const users = 'Bob,1234,Bob@example.com;Mark,5678,Mark@example.com';

const splitByPunctuations = (str = '') => {
    let res = [];
    res = str.split(';');
    for(let i = 0; i < res.length; i++){
        res[i] = res[i].split(',');
    };
    return res;
};

console.log(splitByPunctuations(users));

[
   [ 'Bob', '1234', 'Bob@example.com' ],
   [ 'Mark', '5678', 'Mark@example.com' ]
]

Method 2: Using map() Function

A more functional approach using the map() method for cleaner code:

const users = 'Bob,1234,Bob@example.com;Mark,5678,Mark@example.com';

const splitString = (str) => {
    return str.split(';').map(row => row.split(','));
};

console.log(splitString(users));

[
   [ 'Bob', '1234', 'Bob@example.com' ],
   [ 'Mark', '5678', 'Mark@example.com' ]
]

Method 3: One-liner Arrow Function

The most concise approach using a single arrow function expression:

const users = 'Bob,1234,Bob@example.com;Mark,5678,Mark@example.com';

const parseUsers = str => str.split(';').map(row => row.split(','));

console.log(parseUsers(users));

[
   [ 'Bob', '1234', 'Bob@example.com' ],
   [ 'Mark', '5678', 'Mark@example.com' ]
]

Comparison

Conclusion

The map() approach is generally recommended for its readability and functional programming style. Use the for loop method when performance is critical for large datasets.