Regular Expressions 101

Save & Share

Flavor

  • PCRE2 (PHP >=7.3)
  • PCRE (PHP <7.3)
  • ECMAScript (JavaScript)
  • Python
  • Golang
  • Java 8
  • .NET 7.0 (C#)
  • Rust
  • Regex Flavor Guide

Function

  • Match
  • Substitution
  • List
  • Unit Tests

Tools

Sponsors
There are currently no sponsors. Become a sponsor today!
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

/
/
ixu

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

import Foundation // WARNING: You included a flag that Swift doesn't support: u // When this flag is set, it makes the pattern and subject strings to be treated as unicode. // Swift already treats the pattern and subject strings as unicode by default, so including this flag is redundant. let pattern = ##""" ^(?: (?:[\pL\pN\pS-\.])+(?:\.?(?:[\pL]|xn\-\-[\pL\pN-]+)+) # a domain name | # or \d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3} # a IP address | # or \[ (?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){6})(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:::(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){5})(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){4})(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){0,1}(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){3})(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){0,2}(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){2})(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){0,3}(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):)(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){0,4}(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::)(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9]))\.){3}(?:(?:25[0-5]|(?:[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-4])?[0-9])))))))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){0,5}(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::)(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))|(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})):){0,6}(?:(?:[0-9a-f]{1,4})))?::)))) \] # a IPv6 address )$ """## let regex = try! NSRegularExpression(pattern: pattern, options: [.caseInsensitive, .allowCommentsAndWhitespace]) let testString = #""# let stringRange = NSRange(location: 0, length: testString.utf16.count) if let firstMatch = regex.firstMatch(in: testString, range: stringRange) { let result: [String] = (1 ..< firstMatch.numberOfRanges).map { (testString as NSString).substring(with: firstMatch.range(at: $0)) } print(result) } else { print("No matches were found.") }

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 Swift 5.2, please visit: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsregularexpression