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Regular Expression Reference: Basic Features

Feature	Syntax	Description	Example	JGsoft	.NET	Java	Perl	PCRE	PCRE2	PHP	Delphi	R	JavaScript	VBScript	XRegExp	Python	Ruby	std::regex	Boost	Tcl ARE	POSIX BRE	POSIX ERE	GNU BRE	GNU ERE	Oracle	XML	XPath
Dot	`.` (dot)	Matches any single character except line break characters. Most regex flavors have an option to make the dot match line break characters too.	`.` matches `x` or (almost) any other character	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Not a line break	`\N`	Matches any single character except line break characters, like the dot, but is not affected by any options that make the dot match all characters including line breaks.	`\N` matches `x` or any other character that is not a line break	V2	no	no	5.12	8.10	YES	5.3.4	XE7	YES	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no
Alternation	`\|` (pipe)	Causes the regex engine to match either the part on the left side, or the part on the right side. Can be strung together into a series of alternatives.	`abc\|def\|xyz` matches `abc`, `def` or `xyz`	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	ECMA extended egrep awk	ECMA extended egrep awk	YES	no	YES	no	YES	YES	YES	YES
Alternation	`\\|` (backslash pipe)	Causes the regex engine to match either the part on the left side, or the part on the right side. Can be strung together into a series of alternatives.	`abc\\|def\\|xyz` matches `abc`, `def` or `xyz`	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	YES	no	no	no	no
Alternation	Literal line feed not inside a group or character class	Causes the regex engine to match either the part on the left side, or the part on the right side. Can be strung together into a series of alternatives.	`abc def xyz` matches `abc`, `def` or `xyz`	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	grep egrep	grep egrep	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no
Alternation	Literal line feed inside a group but not inside a character class	Causes the group to match either the part on the left side, or the part on the right side. Can be strung together into a series of alternatives.	`a(bc de fg)h` matches `abch`, `adeh` or `afgh`	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	grep egrep	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no
Alternation is eager	`\|` or `\\|`	Alternation returns the first alternative that matches.	`a\|ab` matches `a` in `ab`	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	ECMA	ECMA	no	n/a	no	no	no	YES	YES	YES
Alternation is greedy	`\|` or `\\|`	Alternation returns the longest alternative that matches.	`a\|ab` matches `ab` in `ab`	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	no	extended grep egrep awk	extended grep egrep awk	YES	n/a	YES	YES	YES	no	no	no
Feature	Syntax	Description	Example	JGsoft	.NET	Java	Perl	PCRE	PCRE2	PHP	Delphi	R	JavaScript	VBScript	XRegExp	Python	Ruby	std::regex	Boost	Tcl ARE	POSIX BRE	POSIX ERE	GNU BRE	GNU ERE	Oracle	XML	XPath