Regular Expression Fundamentals

Name: Regular Expression Fundamentals
Rating: 5.0 (4 reviews)

Learn how to use regular expressions with this comprehensive and practical course

Created byBalazs Beres

Last updated 4/2023

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Learn what regular expressions (regex) are and how they can help you manipulate text data
Understand the basic syntax and structure of regular expressions (regex)
Write basic regex patterns to match literal characters, character classes, quantifiers, anchors and modifiers
Practice writing and testing regex using online tools and resources

Course content

5 sections • 28 lectures • 38m total length

Welcome1:55
Begin with the basics of regular expressions and hands-on learning through code demonstrations and interactive activities, building a solid foundation while exploring different engines and practical tips.
Prerequisites0:09
Confirm you have a reliable internet connection, as this course requires no special materials or programs.
Learning tips0:48
Practice using regex syntaxes to memorize them and compare multiple solutions for better understanding; ensure your syntax works, then consider performance improvements.

Introduction0:15
Explore what regular expressions are, review key points from their history, and show how they work in theory and in practice.
What are Regular Expressions?1:20
Explore regular expressions as sequences of characters that define search patterns in text and drive input validation, find and replace, and highlighting in search engines and text editors.
A brief historical background2:05
Trace the history of regular expressions from Kleene's 1956 work to modern regex, highlighting Spencer's 1986 library and Philip Hazel's 1997 pair compatible regex in PHP and Apache Http server.
How it works3:36
Explore regex syntax that identifies patterns such as numbers 0 to 9, IP addresses, and emails using a function engine that tests text and returns matches with explanations.
Section Summary0:19
Learn what regular expressions are and the difference between regex and regular expressions, and see why this old yet relevant tool remains a valuable skill by watching real-time demonstrations.

Introduction0:19
Explore regex syntaxes and engines, learn how to match characters and digits, work with character or number ranges and modifiers, and review delimiters.
Engines and Dialects2:20
Explore how regex engines, dialects, and versions affect patterns across browsers and languages, and learn to check documentation to ensure supported syntax in your project.
Regular Expression Building blocks1:38
Explore the building blocks of regular expressions, including the pattern between forward slashes and the role of delimiters. Learn how different engines affect syntax and how delimiter choices improve readability.
Character classes2:56
Explore regex character classes, using square brackets, ranges, and negation to match text; learn ASCII range pitfalls, dash and caret placement, and shortcuts like word, digit, dot, and whitespace.
Anchors2:00
Explore anchors in regular expressions, including caret and dollar to anchor matches at the string start and end, and learn about word boundary and non-word boundary positions.
Flags2:20
Explore regex flags, or modifiers, and how they change engine behavior when applied at the end of pattern. Learn ignore case, global, and multi-line flags and their effects on matches.
Escaped characters1:27
Master escaping in regex by using backslashes to denote literal characters and handle special characters. Explore octal escapes, hexadecimal escapes, and other control escapes.
Quantifiers and Alternations1:49
Explore quantifiers and alternations in regular expressions, including asterisk and plus, with exact, at least, and N to M counts, and grasp greedy versus lazy question-mark behavior.
Section Summary0:33
Review the quick cheat sheet of the presented syntaxes on this screen, covering regex syntaxes, engines and modifiers, and how to match characters, digits, or character ranges.

Introduction0:29
Solve regex syntax problems to deepen your understanding of regex syntax, stop to solve before revealing the solution, then verify your approach against multiple test cases.
Matching Specific Text1:08
Develop test cases to identify exact text matches with regex, then write syntax to match the string 'regex course' across multiple lines using multi-line and global flags, observing case sensitivity.
Matching specific characters1:43
Master regular expression fundamentals by building a six-character pattern through ranges, testing with positive and negative cases, and exploring alternations versus ranges for specific characters.
Matching digit and non-digit characters1:11
Analyze problem requirements and use test cases to guide the regex syntax for matching digit and non-digit characters, employing the digit and not-digit shortcut character classes and alternation.
Matching repetitions1:21
Explore matching repetitions in regular expressions by building patterns with two digits, a lowercase and an uppercase letter, using asterisk for zero or more and plus for one or more.
Matching a long string1:28
Explore matching a long string by using alternation and exact repetition: repeat a, b, or c ten times, then repeat a digit ten times, with test cases including negative cases.
Matching a Hexadecimal color format1:40
Identify the hexadecimal color format with a regular expression by using anchors and the hash symbol, and validate 3 or 6 character patterns with digits or lowercase and uppercase A–F.
Matching 24Hr Time1:52
Master matching 24-hour time with regular expressions by building patterns for 0–23 hours (optional leading zero) and 00–59 minutes, validated through test cases.
Section Summary0:25
Explore regex examples and exercises in the course regular expression fundamentals to test your knowledge, with solutions to boost understanding, and remember you can rewatch the examples and previous modules.

Requirements

This course requires no special materials or programs.

Description

Are you looking to enhance your skills in data processing and analysis? A strong understanding of Regex fundamentals is essential for anyone working with data in any capacity. Whether you're a web developer, or data scientist or work with data on a regular basis, this course is tailored for you.

In this course, you'll be introduced to the basics of Regex syntax and structure. You'll examine key elements of Regex, including character classes, quantifiers, anchors, and alternation, and learn how they can be used to match specific patterns in text data. You'll gain hands-on experience in constructing Regex expressions that can be used to validate data input, extract data from text, and search for specific patterns in large datasets.

Throughout the course, you'll have the opportunity to practice writing and testing your own regular expressions using real-world examples and datasets.

By the end of the course, you'll have a strong foundation in Regex fundamentals and be able to apply this knowledge to a wide range of data-related tasks. You'll be equipped with the skills necessary to write complex regular expressions and optimize your data processing workflows.

If you want to take the first step towards becoming an expert in this field, then this is the course for you! Enroll today and start learning the basics of Regex and how to use it in real-world situations.

Who this course is for:

Regex can benefit anyone who works with text-based data, such as programmers, web developers, data analysts, researchers, and writers. Regex can help them perform complex tasks with simple patterns, such as finding email addresses in a document, replacing misspelled words, validating user input, or extracting dates and numbers from a text file.

Regular Expression Fundamentals

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction3 lectures • 3min