freeCodeCamp/curriculum/challenges/english/02-javascript-algorithms-and-data-structures/regular-expressions/remove-whitespace-from-start-and-end.english.md

---
id: 587d7dbb367417b2b2512bac
title: Remove Whitespace from Start and End
challengeType: 1
---

## Description
<section id='description'>
Sometimes whitespace characters around strings are not wanted but are there. Typical processing of strings is to remove the whitespace at the start and end of it.
</section>

## Instructions
<section id='instructions'>
Write a regex and use the appropriate string methods to remove whitespace at the beginning and end of strings.
<strong>Note</strong><br>The <code>.trim()</code> method would work here, but you'll need to complete this challenge using regular expressions.
</section>

## Tests
<section id='tests'>

```yml
tests:
  - text: <code>result</code> should equal to <code>"Hello, World!"</code>
    testString: assert(result == "Hello, World!", '<code>result</code> should equal to <code>"Hello, World!"</code>');
  - text: You should not use the <code>.trim()</code> method.
    testString: assert(!code.match(/\.trim\(.*?\)/), 'You should not use the <code>.trim()</code> method.');
  - text: The <code>result</code> variable should not be set equal to a string.
    testString: assert(!code.match(/result\s*=\s*".*?"/), 'The <code>result</code> variable should not be set equal to a string.');

```

</section>

## Challenge Seed
<section id='challengeSeed'>

<div id='js-seed'>

```js
let hello = "   Hello, World!  ";
let wsRegex = /change/; // Change this line
let result = hello; // Change this line
```

</div>



</section>

## Solution
<section id='solution'>

```js
let hello = "   Hello, World!  ";
let wsRegex = /^(\s+)(.+[^\s])(\s+)$/;
let result = hello.replace(wsRegex, '$2');
```
</section>