Regex Greedy vs Lazy
Control how much quantifiers consume with one character.
- greedy lazy
- non-greedy
- match tag
- negated class
- regex performance
Regex Greedy vs Lazy
Control how much quantifiers consume with one character.
Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
<.+> | Greedy: longest possible |
<.+?> | Lazy: shortest possible |
"[^"]*" | Negated class for quoted strings |
\w+? | Lazy word |
^.*?: | Up to the first colon |
Example
'<b>a</b><b>b</b>'.match(/<.+?>/g)FAQ
Greedy ate my whole line - fix?
Add a question mark for lazy, or better, use a negated class that cannot overshoot by construction.
Is lazy slower?
Sometimes - negated classes are both faster and clearer, so prefer them over lazy dots.
คำถามที่พบบ่อย
Greedy ate my whole line - fix?
Add a question mark for lazy, or better, use a negated class that cannot overshoot by construction.
Is lazy slower?
Sometimes - negated classes are both faster and clearer, so prefer them over lazy dots.