How to get variables from a URL using Javascript

How to get variables from a URL using javascript.

// ex url: http://www.example.com/index.html?hello=bonjour&goodevening=bonsoir
var hash = getUrlVars();
alert(hash['hello']); // prints 'bonjour'
function getUrlVars()
{
    var vars = [], hash;
    var hashes = window.location.href.slice(window.location.href.indexOf('?') + 1).split('&');
    for(var i = 0; i < hashes.length; i++)
    {
        hash = hashes[i].split('=');
        vars.push(hash[0]);
        vars[hash[0]] = hash[1];
    }
    return vars;
}