Working with a "senior frontend developer"

HIM: committed this code, and took him 2 weeks before his first commit on our project
var str = ''

if (string == 'String Here') {
str = 'stringhere'
} else if ( string == 'Another String Here') {
str = 'anotherstringhere'
} and so on ...

ME: WTF?
ME: can we do it like this?
ME: str = string.replace(/\s/g, '').toLowerCase()

Maybe he is senior by age :D