rspec/rules/S6351/javascript/rule.adoc

== Why is this an issue?

Regular expressions with the global flag turned on can be a source of tricky bugs for uninformed users, and should therefore be used with caution. Such regular expressions are stateful, that is, they maintain an internal state through the `+lastIndex+` property, which is updated and used as starting point on every call to `+RegExp.prototype.test()+` and `+RegExp.prototype.exec()+`, even when testing a different string. The `+lastIndex+` property is eventually reset when these functions return `+false+` and `+null+` respectively.

This rule raises an issue when:

* a regular expression is tested against different inputs with `+RegExp.prototype.test()+` or `+RegExp.prototype.exec()+`
* a regular expression is defined within a loop condition while used with `+RegExp.prototype.exec()+`
* a regular expression turns on both global `+g+` and sticky `+y+` flags

=== Noncompliant code example

[source,javascript]
----
const datePattern = /\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/g;
datePattern.test('2020-08-06');
datePattern.test('2019-10-10'); // Noncompliant: the regex will return "false" despite the date being well-formed

const str = 'foodie fooled football';
while ((result = /foo*/g.exec(str)) !== null) { // Noncompliant: a regex is defined at each iteration causing an infinite loop
  /* ... */
}

const stickyPattern = /abc/gy; // Noncompliant: a regex defined as both sticky and global ignores the global flag
stickyPattern.test(/* ... */);
----

=== Compliant solution

[source,javascript]
----
const datePattern = /\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/;
datePattern.test('2020-08-06');
datePattern.test('2019-10-10'); // Compliant

const reg = /foo*/g;
const str = 'foodie fooled football';
while ((result = reg.exec(str)) !== null) { // Compliant
  /* ... */
}

const stickyPattern = /abc/y; // Compliant
stickyPattern.test(/* ... */);
----