Delete first character of a string in Javascript

Question

I want to delete the first character of a string, if the first character is a 0. The 0 can be there more than once.

Is there a simple function that checks the first

Answer 1

Here's one that doesn't assume the input is a string, uses substring, and comes with a couple of unit tests:

var cutOutZero = function(value) {
    if (value.length && value.length > 0 && value[0] === '0') {
        return value.substring(1);
    }

    return value;
};

http://jsfiddle.net/TRU66/1/