Perl Regular Expressions Guide

Perl's regex engine is legendary. For over 35 years, it has been the gold standard for pattern matching, inspiring regex implementations in Python, JavaScript, Java, and countless other languages.

Why Perl Regex is Different

Perl integrates regular expressions directly into the language syntax. The binding operators work seamlessly with Perl's control structures for powerful text processing.

Pattern Matching

Use the match operator to search strings for patterns. The binding operator connects a variable to a pattern for matching.

Character Classes

Character classes match sets of characters. Perl provides predefined classes for common patterns like digits, whitespace, and word characters.

Quantifiers

Quantifiers specify how many times a pattern should match. Use asterisk for zero or more, plus for one or more, and question mark for optional matches.

Capture Groups

Parentheses create capture groups that let you extract parts of a match. Reference captured content using numbered variables.

Substitutions

The substitution operator finds and replaces text. Use modifiers for global replacement, case-insensitive matching, and more.

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