Regular Expression Pocket Reference: Regular Expressions for Perl, Ruby, PHP, Python, C, Java and .NET (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly))

As one expects from an O'Reilly Pocket Reference,
this book is compact but still covers a lot of ground.
For a whole bunch of applications, it provides:
* tables of various groupings of regex metacharacters,
summarizing their syntax and meaning;
* summaries of other regex related features,
but not in tabular form;
* examples;
* a few references in case you need to go deeper.

The information is concise and well chosen.

This is a reference,
but in applications where you use regular expressions less,
it may also be useful for expanding your knowledge significantly.
It was for me.

If you wish, take a look at my
more detailed review on Oakland Perl Mongers.


Extremely Beneficial   October 1, 2003
Brian Rehg (Swansea, IL United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I've been programming with perl for seven years. I've always found it cumbersome trying to remember everything that regular expressions have to offer. Since I have purchased Regular Expression Pocket Reference I no longer have this problem. This book has been a tremendous help to me in utilizing the true power of regular expressions.
The explanations and examples are exceptionally clear and easy to comprehend. The book has improved my programming capabilities while making my job easier. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is required to use regular expressions or to the newbie who wants to learn how.


Excellent concise reference for regular expressions   July 27, 2007
James Holmes (South Central Ohio)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a handy little guide for common regular expression fundamentals and odds and ends. The intro chapter does a nice job of giving you the regex elevator speech and hits all the important fundamentals: different engines, metacharacters, and general pattern rules. There's also a regex "Cookbook" section; however, that bit is only two pages and the "recipes" there are so rudimentary that they're nearly useless and would have been better left to a different book.

The remaining chapters hit regex support in major languages, Apache, shells, and Vi and Vim editors. These sections are very well done and give you great guidance to regex implementations on that platform, plus give you guidance on the APIs you'll need for working with regexes. Languages covered include Perl 5.8, Java 1.5/1.6, .NET framework with examples in C#, PHP, Python, Ruby, Python and JavaScript. The Perl Compatible Regular Expression library (PCRE) is also covered.

Each chapter is concise, well-written and hits the major things you'll need to refresh your memory on from time to time.

Overall it's a very well done book.


Regular expressions, part of a healthy breakfast   November 21, 2007
J. A. Rodriguez (Queretaro, Mexico)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Pocket references are not meant to teach you anything from the beginning, but to be everyday references in known and new environments. In other words, if you don't know regular expressions, then go to "Mastering Regular Expressions". If you're still here, then you'll get a cheat sheet on steroids for languages ranging from bug-prone JavaScript to the King and Queen of robustness, Perl and Python. Although everything claims to be PCRE these days, particular examples in every language available is a plus for anyone. A must for any type of user input validation.


Great reference to an arcane subject   July 16, 2008
Adric (Atlanta, GA, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I'm scared of regular expressions. They vex me constantly at work whether trying to figure out someone else's Apache RewriteRules or Perl or just trying myself to do mildly clever things in vi and sed. They are a headache.

A coworker let me browse his copy of this wonderful little book and I was hooked. I actually tried to buy one that day on the way home, but they were out of stock and so I permitted Amazon to ship me one.

In addition to brief explanations of the different types of regexes in the wild (based on the comprehensive Mastering title, also from ORA), there are detailed quick references to all of the different implementations including several common languages (Perl, PHP, C#, and several others) and software packages (including sed, Apache, vi and many others). All of their various quicks and "features" are explained briefly and there are some examples.

No one hacking around in Unix or doing much programming should be without this book, unless they are already a regex wizard, and I think even they'd find it handy.