To split on any whitespace (including newlines), you'd use /s/ with split:

var theArray = theString.split(/s+/);

s means spaces (e.g., whitespace — including newlines), and + means one or more.

To trim whitespace from the beginning and end of the string first, on any modern browser you can use String#trim:

var theArray = theString.trim().split(/s+/);

If you have to support older browsers, you can use replace:

var theArray = theString.replace(/^s+|s+$/g, '').split(/s+/);

That regex used with replace can use a bit of explanation: http://regex101.com/r/sS0zV3/1

• ^s+ means any whitespace at the beginning of the string


• | means or (as in , this or that) (it's called an alternation)


• s+$ means any whitepsace at the end of the string

Then we replace all occurrences (g) with '' (a blank string).