$re = '/(?:\/\/(?:\\\\\n|[^\n])*\n)|(?:\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/)|((?:R"([^(\\\\\s]{0,16})\([^)]*\)\2")|(?:@"[^"]*?")|(?:"(?:\?\?\'|\\\\\\\\|\\\\"|\\\\\n|[^"])*?")|(?:\'(?:\\\\\\\\|\\\\\'|\\\\\n|[^\'])*?\'))/';
$str = '// /*
/*
This is a multi line comment
// <- ignored since in a comment */
// "abc" word "
// This is a single line comment
char cha1[] = "This is a string containing a combination //",
cha2[] = "This has /* a fake comment */ in it",
cha3[] = "This is tough because of (ignore this //) \\
line continueation",
cha4[] = "Handle comments in strings with \\" escaped quotes\\
and escaped escaped escapes \\\\";
// This is a single line comment \\
continuing on the next line
void main()
{
int chInt = \'\\\\b\\\'\';
printf("Hello world!");
cpp11_1(R"xy("/**/)xy");
cpp11_2(R"("/**/)");
cS(@"End at the right place\\" /*and ignore this */);
return 0;
}
';
$subst = "\1";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
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 PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php