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Mastering Regular Expressions [Paperback]

Jeffrey E.F. Friedl (Author)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 3 edition (15 Aug 2006)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0596528124
ISBN-13: 978-0596528126
Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 17.5 x 2.5 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 279,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Programming > Languages > Pascal
- #5 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Programming > Languages > Cobol
- #6 in Books > Computers & Internet > Computer Science > Programming > Languages > Fortran

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

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! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Indispensable for text processing wizards and regex newcomers alike." - Paul Hudson, Linux Format, February 2007 "In addition to the sheer volume of information, one thing that sets this book apart is that the author uses "real-world" rather than contrived examples. A few of the examples were situations that I have yet to come across, but many were either "been there, done that" or things that I had to go out and try." - James Mohr, Linux Magazine, April 2007

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Customer Reviews

31 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (31 customer reviews)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Escellent coverage of a surprisingly complex topic, 17 April 2002

nick@maproom.co.uk (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mastering Regular Expressions: Powerful Techniques for Perl and Other Tools (Nutshell Handbook) (Paperback)

I bought this book so as to answer a couple of simple questions about regular expressions. I then found it surprisingly readable, and read it for pleasure.

Once I had read it, I found that I was able to apply what I had learned in a variety of powerful ways. I had known that regexes are an important part of Perl. But now I find that they are supported by, and remarkably useful in, Javascript.

The subject matter is difficult, largely because different regex engines work in subtly different ways - this is all clearly covered.

Above all, Friedl avoids the irritating patronising style of so many authors of computer books.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality - your coding will never be the same again!, 27 Jun 2003

David Precious (Herts, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Mastering Regular Expressions (Nutshell Handbooks) (Paperback)

If you regularly develop code in Perl, PHP, Javascript, Java or any other language supporting Regular Expressions, this book will be invaluable to you. Regular Expressions might not look too wonderful, they don't look very friendly, but once you learn them, you'll wonder how you *ever* did without them. This book explains regular expressions comprehensively and simply, and covers specific differences between RE implementations in various languages.

You really can't go wrong here - buying this book and investing a little time to learn Regular Expressions can double your efficiency as a coder - they save me countless hours in my job as a web developer for a major ISP, I couldn't live without Regular Expressions, and I couldn't live without this book!

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece of Fine Details, 7 Jan 2004

M. W. Ellwood "mwellwood" (Abingdon, GB) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mastering Regular Expressions (Nutshell Handbooks) (Paperback)

I bought, read and thoroughly enjoyed the first edition of this book, and was actually surprised to find the second edition a few years later, since I thought Jeffrey Friedl must have already said all there was to say about the subject, so complete was edition 1. However, I soon found a lot of useful new information in edition 2 (e.g. look-behind), beautifully explained as ever. Both editions are well-written IMO, although I wouldn't call them "easy reads". They are not really for dipping into, but for settling down with, although I can only usually manage a couple of chapters at a time, but I always come back. They are "satisfying reads", and somewhat addictive; I think they appeal to the nit-picker in me. For dipping into, perhaps the "Regular Expression Pocket Reference" (by a different author) will be better - I haven't read it yet. But if you actually want to understand REs (and they occur widely in the UNIX/Linux world that I inhabit :-) ), this book is a must.

As a bonus, it is also a rather good introduction to Perl (5.8 in the 2nd edition), but of course, REs are not confined to Perl, as the author makes clear.

My only criticism is actually of the paper quality of the 2nd edition, which is odd, since the 1st edition's paper was recycled and acid-free, which this is apparently not, but it looks cheap and nasty. I think Jeffrey Friedl deserves better.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best technical books I've ever owned
Before reading the book I thought I knew regular expressions (ala the xkcd comic); the main reason for purchasing this was to try and learn how to optimise patterns I was making... Read more

Published 17 months ago by M. Button

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book and get over your fear
Regular expressions always terrified me. I really got tired of looking for related examples on the 'net and hacking sample code so I decided I had to take the plunge... Read more

Published on 24 Sep 2006 by Jon Wright

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It goes far behind simply using regExps but into efficiency and alternate strategies. Read more

Published on 14 Dec 2003 by Mr. M. Hopewell

5.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative and readable
Starts at the beginning with simple examples and detailed explanations. If you stick with it through 500-odd pages I'm sure you will end up knowing everything that's worth knowing... Read more

Published on 17 July 2003 by Graham Phillips

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Perl or Java programmers ...
I welcome the second edition of this book; it's five years since the first edition, which was showing its age. Read more

Published on 7 Aug 2002 by Graham Ellis

5.0 out of 5 stars And you thought regexes were easy....
"Regular Expressions" -- the term sounds fairly bland and unexciting, but it isn't. Using regexes can cut down the number of lines in your code. Read more

Published on 2 Jan 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Will help you make sense of a daunting subject

This is a book about Regular Expressions 'for Perl and Other Tools' but really it's a book about Perl. Read more

Published on 7 Jun 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for anyone serious about JavaScript
There are unfortunately a great number of variations in regular expression syntax between various platforms. Read more

Published on 16 Mar 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful book, odd grammar makes a difficult read.
I found this book a very useful aid to understanding regular expressions. However I do find that the author's lack of attention to detail in the grammar used in the text makes... Read more

Published on 29 Nov 1999 by P. G. Farrow

4.0 out of 5 stars Wordily book
The author talks so much of unrelated stuff outside regular expresions. However he gives good examples and cases for the use of regex.

Published on 31 Aug 1999

› See all 31 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

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