Regular Expressions 101

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An explanation of your regex will be automatically generated as you type.
Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.
  • All Tokens
  • Common Tokens
  • General Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Meta Sequences
  • Quantifiers
  • Group Constructs
  • Character Classes
  • Flags/Modifiers
  • Substitution
  • A single character of: a, b or c
    [abc]
  • A character except: a, b or c
    [^abc]
  • A character in the range: a-z
    [a-z]
  • A character not in the range: a-z
    [^a-z]
  • A character in the range: a-z or A-Z
    [a-zA-Z]
  • Any single character
    .
  • Alternate - match either a or b
    a|b
  • Any whitespace character
    \s
  • Any non-whitespace character
    \S
  • Any digit
    \d
  • Any non-digit
    \D
  • Any word character
    \w
  • Any non-word character
    \W
  • Non-capturing group
    (?:...)
  • Capturing group
    (...)
  • Zero or one of a
    a?
  • Zero or more of a
    a*
  • One or more of a
    a+
  • Exactly 3 of a
    a{3}
  • 3 or more of a
    a{3,}
  • Between 3 and 6 of a
    a{3,6}
  • Start of string
    ^
  • End of string
    $
  • A word boundary
    \b
  • Non-word boundary
    \B

Regular Expression
No Match

/
/
gm

Test String

Code Generator

Generated Code

const regex = /\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2}[ -])([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\b|\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2})([0-9]{4}){3}\b|\b222[1-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\b|\b222[1-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\b|\b22[3-9][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\b|\b22[3-9][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\b|\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\b|\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}([0-9]{4}){3}\b|\b27[01][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\b|\b27[01][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\b|\b2720[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\b|\b2720([0-9]{4}){3}\b/gm; // Alternative syntax using RegExp constructor // const regex = new RegExp('\\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2}[ -])([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2})([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b222[1-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b222[1-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b22[3-9][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b22[3-9][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b27[01][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b27[01][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b2720[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b2720([0-9]{4}){3}\\b', 'gm') const str = `MasterCard: Requirements: MasterCard numbers either start with the numbers 51 through 55 or with the numbers 2221 through 2720. All have 16 digits. Pattern Parts: Starts with numbers 51 through 55: 1) \\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2}[ -])([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2})([0-9]{4}){3}\\b Starts with numbers 2221 through 2720: 2) \\b222[1-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b222[1-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b 3) \\b22[3-9][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b22[3-9][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b 4) \\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}([0-9]{4}){3}\\b 5) \\b27[01][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b27[01][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b 6) \\b2720[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b2720([0-9]{4}){3}\\b Combining 1-6 to form one pattern: \\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2}[ -])([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b(5[1-5][0-9]{2})([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b222[1-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b222[1-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b22[3-9][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b22[3-9][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b2[3-6][0-9]{2}([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b27[01][0-9][ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b27[01][0-9]([0-9]{4}){3}\\b|\\b2720[ -]([0-9]{4}[ -]){2}[0-9]{4}\\b|\\b2720([0-9]{4}){3}\\b Test Cases: Should fire: 16 length, no space, start with 51-55 5123123412341234 16 length, dashes, start with 51-55 5123-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, start with 51-55 5123 1234 1234 1234 16 length, no space, start with 2221-2720 2221123412341234 16 length, dashes, start with 2221-2720 2221-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, start with 2221-2720 2221 1234 1234 1234 16 length, no space, start with 2221-2720 2241123412341234 16 length, dashes, start with 2221-2720 2241-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, start with 2221-2720 2241 1234 1234 1234 16 length, no space, start with 2221-2720 2321123412341234 16 length, dashes, start with 2221-2720 2321-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, start with 2221-2720 2321 1234 1234 1234 16 length, no space, start with 2221-2720 2705123412341234 16 length, dashes, start with 2221-2720 2705-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, start with 2221-2720 2705 1234 1234 1234 16 length, no space, start with 2221-2720 2720123412341234 16 length, dashes, start with 2221-2720 2720-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, start with 2221-2720 2720 1234 1234 1234 Should not fire: 16 length, no space, not start with 51-55 5623123412341234 16 length, dashes, not start with 51-55 5623-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, not start with 51-55 5623 1234 1234 1234 16 length, no space, not start with 2221-2720 2220123412341234 16 length, dashes, not start with 2221-2720 2220-1234-1234-1234 16 length, spaces, not start with 2221-2720 2220 1234 1234 1234 Non 16 length, matches 51 pattern start 5123-1234-1234-123 Non 16 length, matches 2221 pattern start 2221-1234-1234-123 Malformed, matches 51 pattern start 51-2312-34-1234-1234 `; // Reset `lastIndex` if this regex is defined globally // regex.lastIndex = 0; let m; while ((m = regex.exec(str)) !== null) { // This is necessary to avoid infinite loops with zero-width matches if (m.index === regex.lastIndex) { regex.lastIndex++; } // The result can be accessed through the `m`-variable. m.forEach((match, groupIndex) => { console.log(`Found match, group ${groupIndex}: ${match}`); }); }

Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for JavaScript, please visit: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions