[squeaky-clean]

Yes, thank you. I of course use Linux, but I really don't care to remember the specifics of regex libraries across PHP, Python, JS or Java. So I just work out my regex, and from the drop downs choose "Use->Javascript->Chrome->Get Text From Numbered Group". And it spits out like 6 lines of JS that will handle cases of it either being found or not. You can choose the names of the ingoing and outgoing variables.

You don't always get to pick the flavor of regex engine you're using and I've sort of become (partly because of RegexBuddy) the "regex expert" at the office. Aside from `re` in Python I don't even remember the names of the regex libraries. Why should I?

[dahart]

The funny part (to me) is that it was already obvious you use Linux or mac -- some flavor of (star)nix -- because you said you keep a Windows install at the ready. That implies to me that Windows isn't your primary OS. I keep a Windows install at the ready too, for a whole bunch of reasons that have nothing to do with how much I like or dislike Windows.

I would love to be able to remember regex specifics from lib to lib and app to app, but try as I might, I can't. I never know if I have lookaheads or backrefs or named captures available and what the syntax is, I can't remember if there are named character classes. I end up reading the docs, again, almost every time I dig into a regex problem. Same reason for me- I use too many flavors of regex libs. If I could stick to one language, I'd have some hope.

I haven't tried RegexBuddy, but now I'm going to because of your comment, thanks for sharing!

[squeaky-clean]

I highly recommend it if you have to deal with regex a lot. I really wish it was open-source, or there was some OSS alternative as good as it, but oh well. The tools linked above are great for simpler usage.

The built in regex step-debugger is also great, though I've learned that if I have to rely on that, it's probably not a task well suited to regex.