regex - Matching exact string with JavaScript

Question

How can I test if a RegEx matches a string exactly?

var r = /a/;
r.test("a"); // returns true
r.test("ba"); // returns true
testExact(r, "ba"); // should return false
testExact(r, "a"); // should return true

Answer 1

Either modify the pattern beforehand so that it only matches the entire string:

var r = /^a$/

or check afterward whether the pattern matched the whole string:

function matchExact(r, str) {
   var match = str.match(r);
   return match && str === match[0];
}