javascript split text in specific character code example

Example 1: javascript explode

//split into array of strings.
var str = "Well, how, are , we , doing, today";
var res = str.split(",");

Example 2: javascript split

var names = 'Harry ;Fred Barney; Helen Rigby ; Bill Abel ;Chris Hand ';

console.log(names);

var re = /\s*(?:;|$)\s*/;
var nameList = names.split(re);

console.log(nameList);