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Regular expressions are:

by cog (Parson)
on Mar 01, 2009 at 12:47 UTC ( [id://747294]=poll: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

Vote on this poll

A sign that God exists
[bar] 149/22%
What you need
[bar] 103/15%
What makes Perl so strong
[bar] 146/22%
Ergo, they think
[bar] 60/9%
A sure way to get shot in the foot
[bar] 27/4%
Line noise
[bar] 10/1%
An abomination of nature
[bar] 20/3%
A tool that turns one problem into two problems
[bar] 89/13%
I don't use m/Reg\w+\b/ at all
[bar] 23/3%
Regular what?
[bar] 19/3%
Something else
[bar] 27/4%
673 total votes
Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Regular expressions are:
by fraktalisman (Hermit) on Mar 01, 2009 at 16:19 UTC
Re: Regular expressions are:
by kennethk (Abbot) on Mar 01, 2009 at 16:02 UTC
Re: Regular expressions are:
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 01, 2009 at 17:55 UTC
    But we can both blame it all on Henry.
                 -- Larry Wall on perl's regex engine
    

    Larry Wall Quotes

Re: Regular expressions are:
by wolfger (Deacon) on Mar 02, 2009 at 17:21 UTC

    What my co-workers need to learn, to make their lives easier and my life more pleasant. But until they finally do, I'll be happy to look like a genius...

Re: Regular expressions are:
by cdarke (Prior) on Mar 02, 2009 at 16:41 UTC
    ...a way of tracking how that damn cat walked across the keyboard.
Re: Regular expressions are:
by jhourcle (Prior) on Mar 03, 2009 at 01:07 UTC

    Both a blessing and a curse --

    I'm used to using regex in Perl, or other apps using PCRE, but I have to do work in IDL ... and they have what they claim to be regex support, but it lacks:

    • Non-greedy quantifiers
    • lookahead / lookbehind assertions
    • all of the zero-width assertions other than $ and ^
    • \w, \d, \s, etc.
    • non-capturing parenthesis

    So ... anyway, not all regex are created equal -- Perl regex good ... IDL regex is a steaming pile.

Re: Regular expressions are:
by Intranaut (Initiate) on Mar 02, 2009 at 14:49 UTC
    the cause of ir-regular expressions of joy
Re: Regular expressions are:
by pileofrogs (Priest) on Mar 04, 2009 at 17:10 UTC

    Please show one example of each:

    1. Irregular Expressions
    2. Rational & Irrational Expressions
    3. Immaginary Expressions
    4. Anti Expressions
    5. Euclidean & Non-Euclidean Expressions
    6. Newtonian, Relativistic & Quantum Expressions
    7. Theological Expressions (include specific theologies)
    8. Philosophical Expressions (include specific philosophies)
    9. Okay, I'm stopping myself by force of will...

      Irregular Expressions
      See just about any post about REs in SOPW
      Rational & Irrational Expressions
      "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time..."
      Immaginary Expressions
      Anything in a thought-bubble in a comic strip
      Anti Expressions
      "I know you are, but what am I?"
      Euclidean & Non-Euclidean Expressions
      if (m|euclid| && m)euclid))
      Newtonian, Relativistic & Quantum Expressions
      "How much an apple hurts when it hits your head depends on who's head it hits, but it may or may not have hit your head at all if you were not there to see it..."
      Theological Expressions (include specific theologies)
      10 - commandments
      9 - Heimr
      8 - fold path
      7 - terraces of purgatory
      6 - Venus; harmony
      5 - pillars of Islam
      4 - Vedas
      3 - Persons in one Godhead
      2 - Testaments
      1 - Ring to rule them all...
      Philosophical Expressions (include specific philosophies)
      "To be is to do"--Socrates.
      "To do is to be"--Jean-Paul Sartre.
      "Do be do be do"--Frank Sinatra.
      -- Kurt Vonnegut
      9. Auntie Expressions?
        10: Indecent proposal Now THAT would be a useful tool!
Re: Regular expressions are:
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 01, 2009 at 14:06 UTC
    Natural laxative :)

      Yeah, verily! Thou doest speaketh the truth as I live it!

      I doth love them; but, verily I say, every time attempth I to use them, I doth get dispeptic bowels. My brain is left feeling empty and without form; a void in nature!

      ack Albuquerque, NM

        Thy post, translated into Perl, appeareth thus: @foo[1] = s/bar/baz/;

        Though it seem hard to the lewd, the proper conjugation of most regular verbs followeth certain simple rules, whereby archaic English can be writ without offending the eyes of the learned.

        Write then not "thou dost speaketh", but only "thou dost speak" or "thou speakest". -eth is used only with the third person: "he doth speak", "she speaketh". The first person hath no special ending: "I do speak", "I speak".

        As for regular expressions, they are both a blessing and a curse: they bless, for in them is power and expressivity, and the judicious and skilled use thereof maketh a program to be more pleasant and efficient in both the reading and the running; and yet they curse, for many who would write them lack both skill and judgement, and the result is oft great pain for any who would maintain such code.

        If, as many monks have voted, regexen prove that God exists, then also they must prove that He hath a most wicked sense of humour ...

        Thou needst but one application of ye Magick Leech to re-balance thy Humours.

        Fear not, for I shall invoice thee.

Re: Regular expressions are:
by DrHyde (Prior) on Mar 02, 2009 at 11:03 UTC
    Surely they're a sign that God *doesn't* exist. After all, why would an omni-benevolent omniscient omnipotent being let something so hideous exist? A true god would have Inspired a far better scripture.
      A true god would have Inspired a far better scripture.

      But He did!
      A test of faith?
      The best deception the Devil ever had was making you think you need a regex
Re: Regular expressions are:
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 02, 2009 at 14:06 UTC
    A cartoon character swearing
Re: Regular expressions are:
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 03, 2009 at 03:23 UTC

    I voted for "What makes Perl so strong". However it should really be "What made Perl so strong".

    As most of the modern languages support regexp now, that is no longer something that distinguishes perl from the rest.

Re: Regular expressions are:
by nimdokk (Vicar) on Mar 03, 2009 at 21:21 UTC
    It doesn't quite scan right but:

    regex, regex, regex, makes the world go 'round, the world go 'round, the world go 'round

    sung to the tune of "The Money Song" from Cabaret

Re: Regular expressions are:
by Illuminatus (Curate) on Mar 03, 2009 at 17:42 UTC
    A nefarious conspiracy between Larry Wall (if that's even his real name) and Roland Kaufmann to aggressively promote the programmer dvorak keyboard. I find this particularly odious, as I named my oldest daughter Qwerty...

    fnord

Re: Regular expressions are:
by Xilman (Hermit) on Mar 04, 2009 at 11:09 UTC
    the consequence of a high-fib(er|re) diet.
Re: Regular expressions are:
by Illuminatus (Curate) on Mar 03, 2009 at 22:04 UTC
    finding what is sought
    inscrutable yet sublime;
    why (the *#&?!@) doesn't this work?

    syllables in parens don't count...

Re: Regular expressions are:
by DrWhy (Chaplain) on Mar 10, 2009 at 23:22 UTC
    Regular expressions are a powerful tool. Like all powerful tools they are exremely dangerous in the hands of the untrained or inattentive, but magic in the hands of the expert.

    --DrWhy

    "If God had meant for us to think for ourselves he would have given us brains. Oh, wait..."

      "Dangerous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we ourselves posses" -- Gandalf the Grey
        Well said.

        --DrWhy

        "If God had meant for us to think for ourselves he would have given us brains. Oh, wait..."

Re: Regular expressions are:
by punch_card_don (Curate) on Mar 02, 2009 at 19:30 UTC
    Regular expressions are:

    WTF? Holy crap!

    I don't dare publish my more irregular expressions.




    Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Re: Regular expressions are:
by PerlZealot (Acolyte) on Mar 07, 2009 at 05:28 UTC
    Their fruits bringeth great joy; yay, many blessings to the man who hath mastery over them... Yet, yay verily, they art also fickle and a source of great wailing and gnashing of teeth... Kinda like a woman...
Re: Regular expressions are:
by Sisyphus (Chaplain) on Mar 14, 2009 at 12:17 UTC
    If God had meant for us to master regular expressiones for ourselves he would have given us perl. Oh, wait...

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