Rating: 
Summary: Bravo!! I have 20 OReilly Books, and this is the BEST!
Review: After reading just 50 pages, I stopped and went back to look at some of my old awk code. I turned 32 lines of code into 3. I spend so much more time on the computer, my wife wants to sue the author for "causing a divorce"! She can't wait for me to finish the book. I have always wanted to know more about regular expressions, and you have shown me the light. If you are a manager of a technical staff (like myself) and you want to stimulate creativity. buy this book for them. I have heard more "did you know you can do this" statments while passing workstations than I ever have.
Awesome! We all would like to thank Jeffery Friedl and OReilly and Associates so much.
Rating: 
Summary: For everyone from nubie to expert: control your data
Review: My book is all about using regular expressions to access and
modify text and data. If you use Perl, Python, Emacs, awk,
vi, Tcl, grep, etc., you'll find immediate benefit. If you
have access to these or other programs that provide regular
expression support, you'll probably benefit even more, as
the book will open up a whole new world of power to you.
The book's home page is:
http://enterprise.ic.gc.ca/~jfriedl/regex/
You'll find the introduction, table of contents, and index
online, among other things (the errata is also there, but
as of yet there are no major boofoos found).
The response from readers so far has been extremely
gratifying. If you get a chance to read it, I'd love to
hear your thoughts!
Rating:
Summary: The definitive guide to regular expressions
Review: Regular Expressions ("regexes" for short), have been officially integrated into Java with the release of J2SE 1.4. While many Java developers are just discovering them, they have been a fixture in other languages and tools for quite some time. Regular expressions are powerful tools for performing all kinds of text processing, but they require no small amount of knowledge to use effectively and efficiently. This is where "Mastering Regular Expressions" comes to the rescue. The book's nine chapters are categorized into three sections. The book first teaches the basics of regular expressions, crafting simple regexes, and the different features and flavors available in various regex packages. Next, the reader is given invaluable information about how the different types of regular expression engines work, as well as techniques for crafting practical and efficient expressions. The final section covers language specific issues in Perl, Java, and .NET. The author does an outstanding job leading the reader from regex novice to master. The book is extremely easy to read and chock full of useful and relevant examples. The author offers up questions along the way designed to engage the reader to apply what he has learned. In-line references to other parts of the book containing information pertinent the particular topic being discussed are also very helpful. Regular expressions are valuable tools that every developer should have in their toolbox. "Mastering Regular Expressions" is the definitive guide to the subject, and an outstanding resource that belongs on every programmer's bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive reference on regular expressions...
Review: Plain and simple, this is the definitive work on regular expressions... Mastering Regular Expressions (2nd Edition) by Jeffrey E. F. Friedl (O'Reilly).
Chapter List: Introduction to Regular Expressions; Extended Introductory Examples; Overview of Regular Expression Features and Flavors; The Mechanics of Expression Processing; Practical Regex Techniques; Crafting an Efficient Expression; Perl; Java; .NET; Index
I've always been a bit reluctant, hesitant, perhaps even fearful to work with regular expressions. I mean, when you're presented with the following:
s!<emphasis>([0-9+(\.[0-9]+){3})</emphasis>!$1!
who wouldn't start to fear for their sanity?
I recently started to explore the subject a bit in the Notes/Domino arena, and I quickly realized I needed more information than I had. This book fills in all the gaps and then some. It's one of those rare books that starts at an introductory level, simple enough (given the subject matter) that beginners can start to grasp the concepts. If you're past the beginning stages, you can head into the chapters on how to write efficient expressions, as well as how arcane commands interact with each other. If you're not there yet, just keep the book around for reference when you do arrive. To finish the book off, there are chapters on specific implementations of regular expressions in certain languages. This ties the whole package together... introduction through advanced techniques, finished by focused information specific to a particular area of use. You can't ask for much more. It's also nice that the 2nd edition came out after Java had implemented the regex package in 1.4, so you get the latest information.
If you have a copy of this book, make sure your name is in it. This is not one of those titles you want to have turn up missing at the exact moment you need to figure out a nice single line statement to correct a 100 MB text file... Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Everything you ever wanted to know about regex
Review: Like the other Oriely books I've read, this book tells you everything you ever wanted to know about regex and probably a lot of stuff that is interesting but not practically nescary. This book covers regex egines and most common implimentation of regex. It's all good stuff but I would like a book that is more focussed on the practical details of this how you write a regex to validate a phone number or a data etc....
Rating:
Summary: Very worthwhile book
Review: I found this book to be really useful. It was an easy to follow step by step descriptioon of the regular expression language. It also provided valuable insight into the regular expression evaluation engine which is critical to creating efficient and performant expressions.
A must read for anybody that wants to really write effective regular expressions.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This is one of the few O'Reilly books that I read cover to cover. What? A book on regular expressions read cover to cover? If you have read the book, I suspect that you understand. If not, read it. Even a cursory skimming (if possible) will provide valuable information in HOW regular expressions work - the syntax, the underlying engine, differences in implementation. Highly recommended.
On a sidenote, the regular expression in the back of the book (a full page long) has been the topic of conversation in my workplace more than once. I suspect that it will eventually become one of those "geek indicators" like the number 42 or PARC.
Rating:
Summary: Ding ding ding - we have a winner
Review: Great book for newbies and advanced users alike. Regular Expressions are a pain to understand and learn, but this book is a great teaching tool for that. If you're interested in learning RE, this is the book to start with.
Rating:
Summary: Good geek book
Review: Mastering Regular Expressions is for many people including among others casual users, system administrators, and programmers. Only programmers will understand (or need) the whole book, but people with only a tiny little Perl or Unix knowledge will gain much from the first few chapters. The RegEx book is useful as a primer to go a little beyond the usual wild card (i.e. '*') when searching text files for something, it's useful for systems administrators who need to write task automation scripts, and it offers Perl, Java, and .NET programmers a complete reference to the RegEx engines they need to understand to optimize their code.
And if they don't already have it, this will make a great present for your techno geek other half. They'll be impressed...
Rating:
Summary: 10 STARS
Review: If I could give this book 10 stars I would.
This book opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities with regular expressions that I never knew existed. I had heard of regex programming for years, but had no idea they could be so powerful.
I don't know what else to say that hasn't already been said in other reviews. If you want or need to learn regular expressions, this is the *only* book you will need to buy.
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