How to Extract the Last Segment of a URL in JavaScript?

Isolating the Last URL Segment in JavaScript

Getting the last segment of a URL in JavaScript can be useful for various purposes, such as extracting specific information or performing dynamic operations based on URL structure. One common way to achieve this is through the use of the split() function.

Suppose we have a script that displays the full URL of an anchor tag when clicked:

$(".tag_name_goes_here").live('click', function(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  alert($(this).attr("href"));
});

However, if the URL is http://mywebsite/folder/file, we may only want to display the "file" segment in the alert box.

Using split() to Get the Last URL Segment

The split() function can be employed to break down the URL into segments based on the delimiter we specify. In this case, we want to split the URL by the forward slash (/) character.

var segments = this.href.split('/');
var lastSegment = segments[segments.length - 1];
alert(lastSegment);

This method effectively creates an array of URL segments, with the last segment being accessible as the final element of the array.

Alternative: Using lastIndexOf() and substring()

An alternative approach is to use the lastIndexOf() function to locate the last occurrence of the / character in the URL. Then, we can use the substring() function to extract the substring starting from that location:

var lastIndexOfSlash = this.href.lastIndexOf('/');
var lastSegment = this.href.substring(lastIndexOfSlash + 1);
alert(lastSegment);

This method avoids creating an intermediary array of URL segments, potentially resulting in better performance for larger URLs.

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