pxt-core-own/common-docs/reference/text/index-of.md

Microsoft MakeCode, also known as Programming Experience Toolkit (PXT), provides Blocks / JavaScript tools and editors

# index Of

Get the index (position) of the first occurrence of a specified value in a string.

```sig
"hello".indexOf("hel")
```

## Parameters

* **searchValue**: the item to find somewhere in the array.
* **start**: a [number](/types/number) which is the position in the string to begin the search. You use this
if you want the search to start at someplace past `0`, the first position.

## Returns

* a [number](/types/number) which is the position in the string where the element is found. This number
is `-1` if a matching element isn't found anywhere in the array.

## Example

Get the index of "popcorn" in a list of movie treats.

```blocks
let movieSnacks = "mints cola pretzel popcorn peanuts";
let popcorn = movieSnacks.indexOf("popcorn");
```