Module 07 - Regular Expressions
Lesson 00 - What is Regex
Regular expressions, often shortened to regex, are a way of searching for strings with very precise parameters. The full extent of regex is well beyond this guide, but we will explore the basics.
YAYA uses regex based on that of PERL, and you can find documentation for the specific implementation YAYA uses here.
Here also is a guide to PERL regex that you can refer to for a more in-depth exploration of various concepts. I will also recommend this regex calculator for testing expressions. Be warned that this may not always match YAYA’s syntax exactly, but it should get you most of the way there, and help you visualize how regex works.
If this section seems like a lot, don’t sweat it too much. Regex is a complicated beast, and often not necessary unless you’re doing something very complicated. So don’t let this get you down if it’s confusing; regex really is a whole language unto itself.