Checkio: Find the first word in a given string.

first-word.js

/*
You are given a string where you have to find its first word.

When solving a task pay attention to the following points:

There can be dots and commas in a string.
A string can start with a letter or, for example, a dot or space.
A word can contain an apostrophe and it's a part of a word.
The whole text can be represented with one word and that's it.
Input: A string.

Output: A string.

Precondition: the text can contain a-z A-Z , . '
*/

function firstWord(a, b) {
    // returns the first word in a given text.
     
    var originString = '';
    var firstWord = '';
    var wordStarted = false;
    
    if (typeof b != "undefined") {
        originString = a + b;
    } else {
        originString = a;
    }
    
    for (var i = 0; i < originString.length ; i++) {
        
        if (wordStarted === false) {
            if (originString[i] === " " || originString[i] === "," || originString[i] === ".") {
                continue;    
            } else {
                wordStarted = true;
                firstWord += originString[i];
              }   
        } else {
            if (originString[i] === " " || originString[i] === "," || originString[i] === ".") {
                break;
            } else {
                firstWord += originString[i];  
              }
          }   
    }
    return firstWord;
}



var assert = require('assert');
if (!global.is_checking) {
    console.log('Example:')
    console.log(firstWord("Hello world"))

    // These "asserts" using for self-checking and not for auto-testing
    assert.equal(firstWord("Hello world"), "Hello")
    assert.equal(firstWord(" a word "), "a")
    assert.equal(firstWord("don't touch it"), "don't")
    assert.equal(firstWord("greetings, friends"), "greetings")
    assert.equal(firstWord("... and so on ..."), "and")
    assert.equal(firstWord("hi"), "hi")
    console.log("Coding complete? Click 'Check' to earn cool rewards!");
}