Regular expressions, Eloquent Javascript

Regular expressions are a way to describe patterns in string data
~Marijn Haverbeke

Declaring regular expressions.

Using RegExp():

let exp1 = new RegExp("xyz");

Using a forward-slash:

let exp2 = /xyz/;

Character groups

\d digit character
\w alphanumeric character
\s whitespace character
\DA character that is not a digit
\WA nonalphanumeric character
\SA non-whitespace character
. Any character except for a newline

Characters and their use in regular expressions

+ indicates that the element may be repeated more than once
* indicates that the element may be repeated more than once or omitted.
You have to use parenthesis in an expression that uses + or * more than once
{n} defines the number of times a pattern should occur. You can specify a range such as:

• {3} - should occur exactly 3 times
• {1, 3} - should occur at least once and at most thrice
• {3,} - should occur at least three or times

- indicates a range of characters.
^ matches the start of the input string
$ matches the end of the input string
| used to define a choice of two expressions

To include some characters in a regular expression such as + you have to include a backslash.

let exp2 = /\+/;

Regular expression Methods.

exec returns a match if found or null if no match is found. The value returned has an index property that indicates the position where the match was found.
test returns a boolean indicating whether the string contains the pattern.

Day 82 Done and dusted