# Counting the number of occurrences in a string using a higher-order function

I was recently working on some code that required me to count the number of occurrences of an `@` in a string. Initially, I created the following:

```javascript
const matches = (email.match("@")||[]).length;
```

However, the `||[]` which defaults to an empty array if no `@` characters are found strikes me as rather hard to read. Looking for alternatives, I found that you could use `filter()` instead:

```javascript
const matches = [...email].filter(char => char === "@").length
```

I'm not convinced this is much clearer, but it's always good to see how other people tackle the same problem, you'll always learn new things.