Regular Expressions
Chapter 1: Introduction to Regular Expressions
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the basic concepts and uses of regular expressions
- Master the basic syntax structure of regular expressions
- Learn to use online tools to test regular expressions
- Understand regular expression support in different programming languages
Brief Description: Introduces what regular expressions are, why we need them, and their important role in text processing.
Chapter 2: Basic Character Matching
Learning Objectives:
- Master literal character matching
- Understand and use character classes [abc]
- Learn to use predefined character classes (\d, \w, \s, etc.)
- Master negation operations for character classes [^abc]
- Understand the special meaning of the dot (.)
Brief Description: Learn the most basic character matching rules, which are the foundation for building complex regular expressions.
Chapter 3: Quantifiers and Repetition
Learning Objectives:
- Master basic quantifiers: *, +, ?
- Learn to use exact quantifiers: {n}, {n,}, {n,m}
- Understand the difference between greedy and non-greedy matching
- Master the use of non-greedy quantifiers: *?, +?, ??
Brief Description: Learn how to control the number of matches and patterns, which is key to the flexibility of regular expressions.
Chapter 4: Position Matching and Boundaries
Learning Objectives:
- Master line start (^) and line end ($) anchors
- Learn to use word boundaries (\b) and non-word boundaries (\B)
- Understand string start (\A) and end (\Z) positions
- Master basic concepts of lookahead and lookbehind assertions
Brief Description: Learn how to precisely control the position of matches to avoid false matches.
Chapter 5: Grouping and Capturing
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the concept and syntax of grouping ()
- Master the use and reference of capture groups
- Learn to use non-capturing groups (?:)
- Master the syntax and application of named capture groups
- Understand the concept and use of backreferences
Brief Description: Learn how to manage complex regular expressions through grouping and extract required matching content.
Chapter 6: Advanced Assertion Techniques
Learning Objectives:
- Deeply understand positive lookahead assertions (?=)
- Master negative lookahead assertions (?!)
- Learn to use positive lookbehind assertions (?<=)
- Master negative lookbehind assertions (?<!)
- Understand techniques for combining assertions
Brief Description: Master advanced position matching techniques to achieve more precise pattern matching.
Chapter 7: Modifiers and Patterns
Learning Objectives:
- Master case-insensitive matching (i)
- Learn to use multiline mode (m)
- Understand the role of single-line mode (s)
- Master the use of global matching (g)
- Understand the roles of other commonly used modifiers
Brief Description: Learn how to change the matching behavior of regular expressions through modifiers.
Chapter 8: Practical Application Scenarios
Learning Objectives:
- Write regular expressions for email address validation
- Implement phone number format matching
- Create URL link extraction patterns
- Design password strength validation rules
- Master date and time format matching
- Implement IP address validation
Brief Description: Practice applying theoretical knowledge to common text processing tasks through real-world cases.
Chapter 9: Regular Expressions in Programming Languages
Learning Objectives:
- Master the use of RegExp objects in JavaScript
- Learn Python’s re module operations
- Understand Java’s Pattern and Matcher classes
- Master PHP’s PCRE functions
- Understand syntax differences between different languages
Brief Description: Learn how to actually use regular expressions in mainstream programming languages.
Chapter 10: Performance Optimization and Best Practices
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the execution principles of regular expressions
- Master techniques to avoid catastrophic backtracking
- Learn to write efficient regular expressions
- Understand methods for debugging regular expressions
- Master the balance between code readability and maintainability
Brief Description: Learn advanced optimization techniques and best practices in development for regular expressions.
Chapter 11: Comprehensive Text Processing Practice
Learning Objectives:
- Implement log file analysis tools
- Create code format checkers
- Develop text content extraction tools
- Design data cleaning and format conversion programs
- Build simple template engines
Brief Description: Through comprehensive practical projects, integrate learned knowledge to solve real text processing problems.
Chapter 12: Extended Knowledge and Advanced Applications
Learning Objectives:
- Understand Unicode and multilingual text processing
- Master the concept of recursive regular expressions
- Learn regular expression replacement and callbacks
- Understand finite state automaton principles
- Explore the limitations and alternatives of regular expressions
Brief Description: Expand advanced application areas of regular expressions to lay a foundation for in-depth research.