JavaScript equivalent of Python's format() function?

Question

Python has this beautiful function to turn this:

bar1 = \'foobar\'
bar2 = \'jumped\'
bar3 = \'dog\'

foo = \'The lazy \' + bar3 + \' \' + bar2 \' over the \'         


        

Answer 1

Here's my first attempt. Feel free to point out flaws.

Example: http://jsfiddle.net/wFb2p/5/

String.prototype.format = function() {
    var str = this;
    var i = 0;
    var len = arguments.length;
    var matches = str.match(/{}/g);
    if( !matches || matches.length !== len ) {
        throw "wrong number of arguments";
    }
    while( i < len ) {
        str = str.replace(/{}/, arguments[i] );
        i++;
    }
    return str;
};

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EDIT: Made it a bit more efficient by eliminating the .match() call in the while statement.

EDIT: Changed it so that the same error is thrown if you don't pass any arguments.