Mastering Regular ExpressionsRegular expressions are an extremely powerful tool for manipulating text and data.They have spread like wildfire in recent years, now offered as standard features inPerl, Java, VB.NET and C# (and any language using the .NET Framework), PHP, Python, Ruby, Tcl, MySQL, awk, Emacs, and many other popular tools and languages. Ifyou don't use regular expressions yet, you will discover in this book a whole newworld of mastery over your data. If you already use them, you'll appreciate thisbook's unprecedented detail and breadth of coverage. If you think you know all youneed to know about regular expressions, this book is a stunning eye-opener. In spitetheir wide availability, flexibility, and unparalleled power, regular expressions arefrequently underutilized. Regular expressions allow you to code complex and subtletext processing that you never imagined could be automated. Regular expressions cansave you time and aggravation. They can be used to craft elegant solutions to a widerange of problems. A command of regular expressions is an invaluable skill. Yet whatis power in the hands of an expert can be fraught with peril for the unwary. "Mastering Regular Expressions" will help you navigate the minefield to becomingan expert. Once you've mastered regular expressions, they'll become an invaluablepart of your toolkit. You will wonder how you ever got by without them. "MasteringRegular Expressions," Second Edition has been thoroughly updated to include allthe new features of Perl 5.8, as well as several other languages, including Java, VB.NET, C#, Python, JavaScript, Tcl, and Ruby. Written in the lucid, entertainingtone that made a complex, dry topic crystal-clear to thousands of programmers, andsprinkled with solutions to complex real-world problems, "Mastering RegularExpressions" offers a wealth information that you can put to immediate use. Topicsinclude: A comparison of features among different versions of many languagesand toolsHow the regular expression engine worksOptimization (major savings available here!)Matching just what you want, but not what you don't wantSections and chapters on individual languages |
Contents
Preface | xv |
Introduction to Regular Expressions | 1 |
Solving Real Problems | 2 |
Regular Expressions as a Language | 4 |
The RegularExpression Frame of Mind | 6 |
Egrep Metacharacters | 8 |
Expanding the Foundation | 23 |
Personal Glimpses | 33 |
Benchmarking | 232 |
Common Optimizations | 239 |
Techniques for Faster Expressions | 252 |
Unrolling the Loop | 261 |
The Freeflowing Regex | 277 |
Think | 281 |
Perl | 283 |
Regular Expressions as a Language Component | 285 |
Extended Introductory Examples | 35 |
About the Examples | 36 |
Matching Text with Regular Expressions | 38 |
Modifying Text with Regular Expressions | 50 |
Overview of Regular Expression Features and Flavors | 83 |
A Casual Stroll Across the Regex Landscape | 85 |
Care and Handling of Regular Expressions | 93 |
Strings Character Encodings and Modes | 101 |
Common Metacharacters and Features | 112 |
Guide to the Advanced Chapters | 141 |
The Mechanics of Expression Processing | 143 |
Match Basics | 147 |
RegexDirected Versus TextDirected | 153 |
Backtracking | 157 |
More About Greediness and Backtracking | 163 |
NFA DFA and POSIX | 177 |
Summary | 183 |
Practical Regex Techniques | 185 |
Regex Balancing Act | 186 |
HTMLRelated Examples | 200 |
Extended Examples | 208 |
Crafting an Efficient Expression | 221 |
A Sobering Example | 222 |
A Global View of Backtracking | 228 |
Perls Regex Flavor | 286 |
RegexRelated Perlisms | 293 |
The qr Operator and Regex Objects | 303 |
The Match Operator | 306 |
The Substitution Operator | 318 |
The Split Operator | 321 |
Fun with Perl Enhancements | 326 |
Perl Efficiency Issues | 347 |
Final Comments | 363 |
Java | 365 |
Judging a Regex Package | 366 |
Object Models | 368 |
Packages Packages Packages | 372 |
Suns Regex Package | 378 |
A Quick Look at JakartaORO | 392 |
NET | 399 |
NETs Regex Flavor | 400 |
Using NET Regular Expressions | 407 |
Core Object Details | 412 |
Static Convenience Functions | 425 |
Support Functions | 426 |
Advanced NET | 427 |
| 433 | |