Tuesday, February 28. 2006
Regular expressions for dummies
If like me, regular expressions are constantly nagging at you because you just can't get the knack of them, you'll be happy to learn that I have finally found that software I have been waiting for all these years: RegexBuddy. Behind this mindbogglingly dull name hides a very nice visual regular expression editor, debugger, tester and optimizer. Regular expression nirvana!
I am a completely lost case regarding regexes, so I have purchased a copy - and I can honestly say that's the most well spent money I ever spent on software (with the exception of Photoshop, I think). The integrated regexp parser tree view shows you exactly what a regexp is made of, what it matches, where you could optimize it as well as correct common errors. It supports Perl-Compatible regexes as well as POSIX extended ones, has integrated PHP syntax highlighting... I'll stop here before anyone thinks I am affiliated with the creators of the software (but you were probably already thinking just that).
As pictures tell more than words, I'll let these screenshots speak for themselves:
The regex wizards out there will probably laugh at this, but I can highly recommend it if you want to learn regular expressions or simply to be able to make some of your own without external help
I am a completely lost case regarding regexes, so I have purchased a copy - and I can honestly say that's the most well spent money I ever spent on software (with the exception of Photoshop, I think). The integrated regexp parser tree view shows you exactly what a regexp is made of, what it matches, where you could optimize it as well as correct common errors. It supports Perl-Compatible regexes as well as POSIX extended ones, has integrated PHP syntax highlighting... I'll stop here before anyone thinks I am affiliated with the creators of the software (but you were probably already thinking just that).
As pictures tell more than words, I'll let these screenshots speak for themselves:
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The regex wizards out there will probably laugh at this, but I can highly recommend it if you want to learn regular expressions or simply to be able to make some of your own without external help