[Term Entry] JavaScript String: normalize()

content/javascript/concepts/strings/terms/normalize/normalize.md

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+---
+Title: '.normalize()'
+Description: 'Returns the Unicode Normalization Form of a string.'
+Subjects:
+  - 'Code Foundations'
+  - 'Computer Science'
+Tags:
+  - 'JavaScript'
+  - 'Methods'
+  - 'String'
+  - 'Unicode'
+CatalogContent:
+  - 'introduction-to-javascript'
+  - 'paths/front-end-engineer-career-path'
+---
+
+The **`.normalize()`** method returns the Unicode Normalization Form of a [string](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/javascript/strings). This is especially useful when comparing strings that may look identical but are composed of different Unicode code points.
+
+## Syntax
+
+```pseudo
+string.normalize([form])
+```
+
+**Parameters:**
+
+- `form` (optional): A string specifying the Unicode normalization form. Valid values are:
+  - `'NFC'` (default): Canonical Composition
+  - `'NFD'`: Canonical Decomposition
+  - `'NFKC'`: Compatibility Composition
+  - `'NFKD'`: Compatibility Decomposition
+
+**Return value:**
+
+A new string in the specified normalization form.
+
+## Example: Comparing Unicode Representations
+
+In this example, two visually identical strings have different Unicode encodings, and `.normalize()` is used to make them comparable.
+
+```js
+const word1 = '\u00e9';         // é as single character
+const word2 = '\u0065\u0301';   // e + ́ (combining acute)
+
+console.log(word1 === word2);
+console.log(word1.normalize() === word2.normalize());
+```
+
+The output of this code is:
+
+```shell
+false
+true
+```
+
+## Codebyte Example: Stripping Accents Using Normalize + Regex
+
+In this example, `.normalize()` is combined with a regular expression to strip accents by removing Unicode diacritical marks:
+
+```codebyte/javascript
+const word = 'café';
+const stripped = word.normalize('NFD').replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, '');
+
+console.log(stripped); 
+```