Mastering Regular Expressions (Nutshell Handbook) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Regular expressions--it sounds fairly ordinary in a regular sort of way, so therefore it must be very simple and very straightforward, right? Not quite.

The simple name hides an incredible amount of power when handling textual data with scripting languages such as Perl, Python and awk and more and the programmer that can master regular expressions can master just about anything.

From the off it's necessary to congratulate author Jeffrey Friedl on doing a superb job of asking what can be a very complex subject and breaking it down into digestible chunks that almost anyone can understand.

From the basics of character and pattern matching through to the recognition of complex string patterns and multiple character replacements to "greedy" metacharacters and how to curb their appetite, this is about as comprehensive as it gets.

With a handful of latter chapters devoted to the differences between scripting languages and the way in which they deal with regular expressions and so many examples it'll make your eyes water there's something here for everyone.

So, if you can examine a string like this "(\\.|[^"\\])*" and know what it does and how it does it there's plenty of reference material in here for those odd moments when you need a refresher. If, however, you've no idea what the above means, and you need the ability to handle textual data, buy this book. Now!

Regular expressions are a central element of UNIX utilities like egrep and programming languages such as Perl. But whether you're a UNIX user or not, you can benefit from a better understanding of regular expressions since they work with applications ranging from validating data-entry fields to manipulating information in multimegabyte text files. Mastering Regular Expressions quickly covers the basics of regular-expression syntax, then delves into the mechanics of expression-processing, common pitfalls, performance issues, and implementation-specific differences. Written in an engaging style and sprinkled with solutions to complex real-world problems, Mastering Regular Expressions offers a wealth information that you can put to immediate use.

Regular expressions are an extremely powerful tool for manipulating text and data. They have spread like wildfire in recent years, now offered as standard features in Perl, Java, VB.NET and C# (and any language using the .NET Framework), PHP, Python, Ruby, Tcl, MySQL, awk, Emacs, and many other popular tools and languages.

If you don't use regular expressions yet, you will discover in this book a whole new world of mastery over your data. If you already use them, you'll appreciate this book's unprecedented detail and breadth of coverage. If you think you know all you need to know about regular expressions, this book is a stunning eye-opener.

In spite their wide availability, flexibility, and unparalleled power, regular expressions are frequently underutilized. Regular expressions allow you to code complex and subtle text processing that you never imagined could be automated. Regular expressions can save you time and aggravation. They can be used to craft elegant solutions to a wide range of problems.

A command of regular expressions is an invaluable skill. Yet what is power in the hands of an expert can be fraught with peril for the unwary. Mastering Regular Expressions will help you navigate the minefield to becoming an expert. Once you've mastered regular expressions, they'll become an invaluable part of your toolkit. You will wonder how you ever got by without them.

Mastering Regular Expressions, Second Edition has been thoroughly updated to include all the new features of Perl 5.8, as well as several other languages, including Java, VB.NET, C#, Python, JavaScript, Tcl, and Ruby. Written in the lucid, entertaining tone that made a complex, dry topic crystal-clear to thousands of programmers, and sprinkled with solutions to complex real-world problems, Mastering Regular Expressions offers a wealth information that you can put to immediate use.

Topics include: A comparison of features among different versions of many languages and tools. - How the regular expression engine works. - Optimization (major savings available here!). - Matching just what you want, but not what you don't want. - Sections and chapters on individual languages. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Regular expressions are a powerful tool for manipulating text and data. If you don't use them yet, you will discover in this book a whole new world of mastery over your data. If you already use them, you'll appreciate this book's unprecedented detail and breadth of coverage. If you think you know all you need to know about regular expressions, this book is a stunning eye-opener. With regular expressions, you can save yourself time and aggravation while dealing with documents, mail messages, log files -- you name it -- any type of text or data. For example, regular expressions can play a vital role in constructing a World Wide Web CGI script, which can involve text and data of all sorts. Regular expressions are not a tool in and of themselves, but are included as part of a larger utility. The classic example is grep.

These days, regular expressions can be found everywhere, such as in: Scripting languages (including Perl, Tcl, awk, and Python) Editors (including Emacs, vi, and Nisus Writer) Programming environments (including Delphi and Visual C++) Specialized tools (including lex, Expect, and sed) While many of these tools originated on UNIX, they are now available for a wide variety of platforms, including DOS/Windows and MacOS, so you can use them in your home environment. Additionally, many favorite programming languages offer regular-expression libraries, so you can include support for them in your own programs, and yes, even applets. There can be certain subtle, but valuable, ways to think when you're using regular expressions, and these can be taught. Jeffrey Friedl has spent years helping people on the Net understand and use regular expressions. In this book he leads you through the steps of knowing exactly how to craft a regular expression to get the job done. Regular expressions are not used in a vacuum. In this book, a variety of tools are examined and used in an extensive array of examples, with a major focus on Perl.

Perl is extremely well endowed with rich and expressive regular expressions. Yet what is power in the hands of an expert can be fraught with peril for the unwary. This book will help you navigate the minefield to becoming an expert.

For everyone from nubie to expert: control your data
My book is all about using regular expressions to access and modify text and data. If you use Perl, Python, Emacs, awk, vi, Tcl, grep, etc., you'll find immediate benefit. If you have access to these or other programs that provide regular expression support, you'll probably benefit even more, as the book will open up a whole new world of power to you.

The book's home page is:
http://enterprise.ic.gc.ca/~jfriedl/regex/

You'll find the introduction, table of contents, and index online, among other things (the errata is also there, but as of yet there are no major boofoos found).

The response from readers so far has been extremely gratifying. If you get a chance to read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Jeffrey Friedl was raised in the countryside of Rootstown, Ohio, and had aspirations of being an astronomer until one day noticing a TRS-80 Model I sitting unused in the corner of the chem lab (bristling with a full 16k RAM, no less). He eventually began using UNIX (and regular expressions) in 1980. With degrees in computer science from Kent (B.S.) and the University of New Hampshire (M.S.), he is now an engineer with Omron Corporation, Kyoto, Japan. He lives in Nagaokakyou-city with Tubby, his long-time friend and Teddy Bear, in a tiny apartment designed for a (Japanese) family of three. Jeffrey applies his regular-expression know-how to make the world a safer place for those not bilingual in English and Japanese. He built and maintains the World Wide Web Japanese-English dictionary server, http://www.itc.omron.com/cgi-bin/j-e, and is active in a variety of language-related projects, both in print and on the Web. When faced with the daunting task of filling his copious free time, Jeffrey enjoys riding through the mountainous countryside of Japan on his Honda CB-1. At the age of 30, he finally decided to put his 6'4" height to some use, and joined the Omron company basketball team. While finalizing the manuscript for Mastering Regular Expressions., he took time out to appear in his first game, scoring five points in nine minutes of play, which he feels is pretty darn good for a geek. When visiting his family in The States, Jeffrey enjoys dancing a two-step with his mom, binking old coins with his dad, and playing schoffkopf with his brothers and sisters.