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

/
/

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

import java.util.regex.Matcher; import java.util.regex.Pattern; public class Example { public static void main(String[] args) { final String regex = "<div class=\"instant_search_title fsl fwb fcb\"><a href=\".+?\">(.*?)<"; final String string = "<i class=\"mrs friendsIcon customimg img sp_b6fmvb sx_5e511f\"><u>Friend</u></i><span class=\"uiButtonText\">Friends</span></a></div></div><div class=\"pls\"><div class=\"instant_search_title fsl fwb fcb\"><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/adrianasdzxc\" onclick=\"if (event.button == 0) &#123; search_logged_ajax(&#123;&quot;ab&quot;:&quot;T_GS_BACKEND_ENTITY_LIMITATION&quot;,&quot;cururl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;fc&quot;:1,&quot;gc&quot;:0,&quot;id&quot;:616226XXX,&quot;init&quot;:&quot;s:unknown&quot;,&quot;is_friend&quot;:true,&quot;is_new_user&quot;:0,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en_US&quot;,&quot;o_type&quot;:1,&quot;original_q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;rc&quot;:0,&quot;sid&quot;:&quot;10000108681XXXX.3365508868..1&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:0,&quot;typeahead_sid&quot;:null,&quot;u&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;c:name&quot;&#125;); &#125;\" onmouseup=\"if (event.button != 0) &#123; search_logged_ajax(&#123;&quot;ab&quot;:&quot;T_GS_BACKEND_ENTITY_LIMITATION&quot;,&quot;cururl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;fc&quot;:1,&quot;gc&quot;:0,&quot;id&quot;:616226XXX,&quot;init&quot;:&quot;s:unknown&quot;,&quot;is_friend&quot;:true,&quot;is_new_user&quot;:0,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en_US&quot;,&quot;o_type&quot;:1,&quot;original_q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;rc&quot;:0,&quot;sid&quot;:&quot;10000108681XXXX.3365508868..1&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:0,&quot;typeahead_sid&quot;:null,&quot;u&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;c:name&quot;&#125;); &#125;\" data-hovercard=\"/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=616226XXX\">Adrian asdzxc</a></div><div class=\"fsm fwn fcg\"><div class=\"fbProfileByline searchResultPersonByline\"><span class=\"fbProfileBylineFragment\"><span class=\"fbProfileBylineIconContainer\"><i class=\"mrs fbProfileBylineIcon img sp_9pvis2 sx_897cc1\"></i></span><span class=\"fbProfileBylineLabel\">Webmaster at <a href=\"true\"><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/pages/Freelancer/640564905962853\" data-hovercard=\"/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=640564905962853\">Freelancer</a></a></span></span><span class=\"fbProfileBylineFragment\"><span class=\"fbProfileBylineIconContainer\"><i class=\"mrs fbProfileBylineIcon img sp_9pvis2 sx_ed189a\"></i></span><span class=\"fbProfileBylineLabel\">Studied Web Design at <a href=\"true\"><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/pages/Universitatea-Tibiscus/242668875759811\" data-hovercard=\"/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=242668875759811\">Universitatea Tibiscus</a></a></span></span><span class=\"fbProfileBylineFragment\"><span class=\"fbProfileBylineIconContainer\"><i class=\"mrs fbProfileBylineIcon img sp_9pvis2 sx_c1d4c8\"></i></span><span class=\"fbProfileBylineLabel\">Lives in <a href=\"true\"><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/pages/Timi%C8%99oara-poland/107982459236366\" data-hovercard=\"/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=107982459236366\">Timișoara, poland</a></a></span></span></div></div><div><div class=\"mts detailedsearch_actions\"><a href=\"/browse/mutual_friends/?uid=616226XXX\" rel=\"dialog\" ajaxify=\"/ajax/browser/dialog/mutual_friends/?uid=616226XXX\" onclick=\"if (event.button == 0) &#123; search_logged_ajax(&#123;&quot;ab&quot;:&quot;T_GS_BACKEND_ENTITY_LIMITATION&quot;,&quot;cururl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;fc&quot;:1,&quot;gc&quot;:0,&quot;id&quot;:616226XXX,&quot;init&quot;:&quot;s:unknown&quot;,&quot;is_friend&quot;:true,&quot;is_new_user&quot;:0,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en_US&quot;,&quot;o_type&quot;:1,&quot;original_q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;rc&quot;:0,&quot;sid&quot;:&quot;10000108681XXXX.3365508868..1&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:0,&quot;typeahead_sid&quot;:null,&quot;u&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;c:mutual_friend&quot;&#125;); &#125;\" onmouseup=\"if (event.button != 0) &#123; search_logged_ajax(&#123;&quot;ab&quot;:&quot;T_GS_BACKEND_ENTITY_LIMITATION&quot;,&quot;cururl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;fc&quot;:1,&quot;gc&quot;:0,&quot;id&quot;:616226XXX,&quot;init&quot;:&quot;s:unknown&quot;,&quot;is_friend&quot;:true,&quot;is_new_user&quot;:0,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en_US&quot;,&quot;o_type&quot;:1,&quot;original_q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;rc&quot;:0,&quot;sid&quot;:&quot;10000108681XXXX.3365508868..1&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:0,&quot;typeahead_sid&quot;:null,&quot;u&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;c:mutual_friend&quot;&#125;); &#125;\" role=\"button\">2 mutual friends</a> · <a href=\"/messages/adrianasdzxc\" ajaxify=\"/ajax/messaging/composer.php?ids%5B0%5D=616226XXX&amp;ref=search\" rel=\"dialog\" onclick=\"if (event.button == 0) &#123; search_logged_ajax(&#123;&quot;ab&quot;:&quot;T_GS_BACKEND_ENTITY_LIMITATION&quot;,&quot;cururl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;fc&quot;:1,&quot;gc&quot;:0,&quot;id&quot;:616226XXX,&quot;init&quot;:&quot;s:unknown&quot;,&quot;is_friend&quot;:true,&quot;is_new_user&quot;:0,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en_US&quot;,&quot;o_type&quot;:1,&quot;original_q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;rc&quot;:0,&quot;sid&quot;:&quot;10000108681XXXX.3365508868..1&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:0,&quot;typeahead_sid&quot;:null,&quot;u&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;c:action&quot;&#125;); &#125;\" onmouseup=\"if (event.button != 0) &#123; search_logged_ajax(&#123;&quot;ab&quot;:&quot;T_GS_BACKEND_ENTITY_LIMITATION&quot;,&quot;cururl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;fc&quot;:1,&quot;gc&quot;:0,&quot;id&quot;:616226XXX,&quot;init&quot;:&quot;s:unknown&quot;,&quot;is_friend&quot;:true,&quot;is_new_user&quot;:0,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en_US&quot;,&quot;o_type&quot;:1,&quot;original_q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;q&quot;:&quot;adriantnt\\\\u0040yahoo.com&quot;,&quot;rank&quot;:0,&quot;rc&quot;:0,&quot;sid&quot;:&quot;10000108681XXXX.3365508868..1&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:0,&quot;typeahead_sid&quot;:null,&quot;u&quot;:&quot;https:\\\\/\\\\/www.facebook.com\\\\/adrianasdzxc&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:&quot;c:action&quot;&#125;); &#125;\" role=\"button\">Send message</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div> --></code>\n"; final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex); final Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string); if (matcher.find()) { System.out.println("Full match: " + matcher.group(0)); for (int i = 1; i <= matcher.groupCount(); i++) { System.out.println("Group " + i + ": " + matcher.group(i)); } } } }

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 Java, please visit: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html