Module java.base

Package java.util.regex

Classes for matching character sequences against patterns specified by regular expressions.

An instance of the Pattern class represents a regular expression that is specified in string form in a syntax similar to that used by Perl.

Instances of the Matcher class are used to match character sequences against a given pattern. Input is provided to matchers via the CharSequence interface in order to support matching against characters from a wide variety of input sources.

Unless otherwise noted, passing a null argument to a method in any class or interface in this package will cause a NullPointerException to be thrown.

Related Documentation

An excellent tutorial and overview of regular expressions is Mastering Regular Expressions, Jeffrey E. F. Friedl, O'Reilly and Associates, 1997.

Since:
1.4
  • Interface Summary
    Interface Description
    MatchResult
    The result of a match operation.
  • Class Summary
    Class Description
    Matcher
    An engine that performs match operations on a character sequence by interpreting a Pattern.
    Pattern
    A compiled representation of a regular expression.
  • Exception Summary
    Exception Description
    PatternSyntaxException
    Unchecked exception thrown to indicate a syntax error in a regular-expression pattern.