Digitize a number in JavaScript

Converting a number to an array of digits is fairly easy in JavaScript. All it requires is some string manipulation and array methods.

For starters, any number can be converted to a string using the template literal syntax. Converting a string to an array of characters is as simple as using the spread operator (...). Then, to convert a character into a number, you can use Number.parseInt(). Finally, to combine these two steps, you can use Array.prototype.map() to transform each character into a number.

As an additional step, we can use Math.abs() to remove the sign of the number before converting it to a string. This way, we can handle both positive and negative numbers.

const digitize = n => [...`${Math.abs(n)}`].map(i => Number.parseInt(i, 10));

digitize(123); // [1, 2, 3]
digitize(-123); // [1, 2, 3]