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RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

regexr.com

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Re: RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

#2

Post by brendanfalk »

RegExr is my go to tool for testing regex. It’s always been able to solve my needs and I’ve never had any need to change. In saying that, I’ve always wondered if regexr is missing out on something that other regex build/test tools have?

What other regex tools do people use and why?

Re: RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

#3

Post by nerdponx »

I (and most people I talk to about this stuff) tend to use Regex101 (https://regex101.com) for this purpose. It will be interesting to spend some time with RegExr and compare the two tools.

I am also aware of RegexBuddy (https://www.regular-expressions.info/regexbuddy.html), whose author also publishes very good regex learning content on their site. It looks great, but it's a closed-source Windows-only application, which means it's something I'll never be able to benefit from.

Re: RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

#5

Post by Glant »

brendanfalk wrote: post #2

RegExr is my go to tool for testing regex. It’s always been able to solve my needs and I’ve never had any need to change. In saying that, I’ve always wondered if regexr is missing out on something that other regex build/test tools have? What other regex tools do people use and why?

I typically use Regex101. It's been good enough for my needs and I'm just used to it at this point. Looking at RegExr, it seems like the only big difference is that Regex101 supports substitution, though I think I've only used it once.

https://regex101.com/

Re: RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

#7

Post by Zababa »

brendanfalk wrote: post #2

RegExr is my go to tool for testing regex. It’s always been able to solve my needs and I’ve never had any need to change. In saying that, I’ve always wondered if regexr is missing out on something that other regex build/test tools have? What other regex tools do people use and why?

I use regex101.com, that looks a lot like RegExr. I remember using RegExr at some point, and I think I default to regex101 just because the name is a bit easier to remember. I'll try to remember to switch to RegExr since it's open source.

Re: RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

#8

Post by walls »

Glant wrote: post #5
brendanfalk wrote: post #2

RegExr is my go to tool for testing regex. It’s always been able to solve my needs and I’ve never had any need to change. In saying that, I’ve always wondered if regexr is missing out on something that other regex build/test tools have? What other regex tools do people use and why?

I typically use Regex101. It's been good enough for my needs and I'm just used to it at this point. Looking at RegExr, it seems like the only big difference is that Regex101 supports substitution, though I think I've only used it once. https://regex101.com/

It also lets you switch between regex implementations in different languages.

Re: RegExr: Learn, Build and Test Regex

#9

Post by avgcorrection »

(I’m too much of an idealist for my own good.)

I’m sure that these resources are great. And it’s not their fault that the regex family of languages evolved in the way that they did. But the simpler regex languages (without backreferences and other stuff… that I might not even know about) seem simple at first glance. In a perfect world I want to just spend and hour internalizing them forever. But in practice it seems that doubt always grips me, mostly because of the meta-syntax problem: did I unintentionally use some metacharacter in this part of the string which I meant to be “fixed”? So then I feel I have to “validate” it with some external tool. And suddenly it feels like this seemingly terse and agile language is just making me second-guess myself.

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