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Mastering Regular Expressions

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This is a book about Regular Expressions 'for Perl and Other Tools' but really it's a book about Perl. Other tools are covered, but coverage is a bit woolly, so if you are reading it to get the low-down on Python's RegEx capabilities etc. this book won't get you far. I can't help that feel that if the book had just concentrated on Perl, rather than giving sketchy coverage of 'Other Tools', it could have been even better (and would have definitely got five starts). That said, the extra coverage (particularly the RegEx engine material) was very interesting and has turned out invaluable in practice.

If you are an absolute beginner to Perl or programming you will need another book(s) to get the most out of this one, but it is a gentle and thorough introduction that won't leave you scratching your head, which is a feat in itself considering the complexity of Regular Expressions.

This is an excellent book for getting the most out of Perl's RegEx capabilities, you will close the back cover feeling that you genuinely have Mastered the subject. It is without doubt the best book available on the subject, nicely written, with a friendly and un-patronising tone (grammatical errors aside), you can't really go wrong with this one.

There could have been some more useful real world examples/projects included, and the book could probably do with an overhaul (it was published in 97) to accommodate Perl 5.6 and other developments (O'Reilly are you listening?), but it is still the best out there.

If RegEx is a subject you need to get to grips with, this book is the solution.

Within two weeks after receiving Mr. Friedl's book, I was able to write a concise Perl regex (see below) to find arbitrarily complex bible citations (e.g., Is 1:4,27:6-10,65:1-66:1,5-15) in my bible study files. I'm not a programmer by trade or hobby, have no Perl background or any appreciable experience with regexes thru grep or similar tools (my background in data modeling using EBNF helped me grasp the regex concept). Mr. Friedl's orderly and thorough progression from simple to complex material allowed me to easily tailor my reading and "practicum" towards a specific problem, while learning a great deal about regexes (and Perl as well, although this is not a Perl book). Mr. Friedl's humor helped keep my interest, although that's purely a matter of taste. I strongly recommend this book if you're looking to go from 0-60 mph on regexes, both conceptually and practically, within a couple of weeks. If you're looking for "recipes," you'll be disappointed.

/$bk\s*($ver_rng+|$ch_rng+)+/g

Whether you are searching text documents with BBedit or flagging Usenet articles with Newswatcher, learning to use regular expressions can make your life a lot easier. Regular expressions ("regex") are text strings that allow you to search for complex variations of words and phrases. For instance, with the simple regex "gr[ea]y" you can flag any instances of the words "gray" or "grey". While a lot of applications support regex, finding out how to use this powerful function can be very difficult. There is suprisingly little online documentation of regex.

Friedl's excellent book fills this void. In the introductory material, he covers what a regex is and how to use the regex language to do your own searches. The rest of the book, however, is aimed at programmers only, dealing with how various programming languages (such as Perl) implement regex. If all you want to do is use regex for searching text files or flagging Usenet articles, most of the book will not be useful to you. However, until someone comes out with a pocket manual of regex, Friedl's book is the only game in town.

I made the mistake of buying a bunch of books on Perl to try to learn Perl programming. I made progress, but it was slow -- and it beat me down. Then I bought THIS book. Perl's implementation of Regular Expressions is a great deal of the functionality of that language. This is true to the extent that trying to read Perl script without knowing Regular Expressions is tedious at best. This is not just another computer book. Jeffrey Friedl has put his heart and soul into this work, and it shows. He even offers free updates (in the truest, most honest sense of the word) from his own web page. This is the best programming book I own.

After reading this book, Perl script reads like USA Today! Save yourself lots of heartache. Buy this book, Mastering Regular Expressions -- read it -- THEN learn Perl!
Jeff Morris

As somone else said, "If you're looking for a handy desktop reference this book is NOT it." But it doesn't claim to be. The title is "Mastering Regular Expressions" and that's what the book is for. If you want a quick reference so you can just find a regex to do what you want, then you're not interested in mastering regular expressions, are you? This book is for someone who wants an in-depth understanding of regexes - not someone with a looming deadline. This book is in the category of "Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime."

This book was written with a thoroughness that is only possible when the author loves his subject.

As a long-time UNIX hacker, I thought I knew regular expressions. I mainly bought the book to gain a fuller understanding of the intricacies of Perl regular expressions. I learned that, when it came to REs, I was a rank amateur. Jeffrey Friedl is the master. The Perl chapter alone is worth the price of the book....

One of the most frustrating things about learning the perl language is learning to deal with its regular expressions. This book does a great job of explaining complicated examples and has challenging problem solving situations. It covers mostly input manipulation, searching and filtering, which are probably the most important aspects of regular expressions. I give it 3 stars is because its a tad bit on the wordy side. O'Reilly books useually do a good job of explaining things, but there were many details about regular expressions that I could have done without reading about. There is a consistant lack of examples throughout the book as well. If you are going to throw a lot of complicated technical information at the reader, it is a good idea to illustrate consepts no matter how big or small. I can't say anything else negative about the book though, because if you are struggling with regular expressions I would recommend that you get it. After a few chapters you will have a better understanding and be writing your own confusing perl regular expressions.

In my opinion, one of the two best books from O'Reilly during the 1990s (the other being the original 1991 "purple camel book"). Friedl applies his perfectionist and completist nature fully to the task. He did his own layout, which is not that unusual in the technical publishing trade, but which definitely isn't the O'Reilly way. The book is better for it (probably much better) and for all the other places where his attention to detail and thoroughness takes command.

This book is not a good end to end read, but it goes very well if you read some of the beginning material and then read a page or three from time to time as you get a chance. I sometimes (only half jokingly) suggest to my students that they should replace their copy of Reader's Digest near their "thrones" with a copy of MRE. Then they can read about a new topic for 10 or 15 minutes and ponder it for the rest of the day, which, if you are new to the theory and reality of regular expressions, is about the perfect regimen.

There's just a world of power at any user's fingertips, and it's regular expressions. For any task that involves anything with alphanumeric characters, there are few, if any, ways to manage large chunks of them more effectively. Regular expressions harnessed to Perl are the tools that you need to do essentially anything on your computer. This book is like a scuba diving lesson for any reasonably competent computer user: it will take you to fascinating places you haven't been, it will make you think and be a little uncomfortable at first, but it will incredibly exhilarating when you're actually doing it.

A good general book on Reg Ex, but the basic problem is that its too broad. Since so many regular expression engines can be different it doesnt really spend enough time on any one to let you 'master' them.

But its still a worthwhile read, and its a good companion for Programming Perl for the perl programmers.