RE2 (software): Difference between revisions
m Punctuation |
|||
| Line 32: | Line 32: | ||
PCRE can use a large [[recursion (computer science)#Other considerations|recursive stack]] with corresponding high memory use and have [[exponential time|exponential]] runtime on certain patterns. In contrast, RE2 uses a fixed stack and guarantees that run-time increases [[linear time|linearly]] (not exponentially) with the size of the input. The maximum memory allocated with RE2 is configurable. |
PCRE can use a large [[recursion (computer science)#Other considerations|recursive stack]] with corresponding high memory use and have [[exponential time|exponential]] runtime on certain patterns. In contrast, RE2 uses a fixed stack and guarantees that run-time increases [[linear time|linearly]] (not exponentially) with the size of the input. The maximum memory allocated with RE2 is configurable. |
||
RE2 has a slightly smaller set of features than PCRE, but has very predictable run-time and a maximum memory allotment. This makes it suitable for use in server applications which require boundaries on memory usage and computational time. PCRE, on the other hand, has almost all of the features that a regular expression library can have, but has unpredictable run-time and memory usage and can grow unbounded. |
RE2 has a slightly smaller set of features than PCRE, but has very predictable run-time and a maximum memory allotment. This makes it suitable for use in server applications, which require boundaries on memory usage and computational time. PCRE, on the other hand, has almost all of the features that a regular expression library can have, but has unpredictable run-time and memory usage and can grow unbounded. |
||
==Use in Google products== |
==Use in Google products== |
||
Revision as of 13:25, 3 October 2023
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
| Original author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Initial release | March 11, 2010[1] |
| Stable release | 2021-04-01
/ April 1, 2021[2] |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C++ |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Type | Pattern matching library |
| License | BSD |
| Website | github |
RE2 is a software library for regular expressions via a finite-state machine using automata theory, in contrast to almost all other regular expression libraries, which use backtracking implementations. It provides a C++ interface.
RE2 was implemented and used by Google.
Comparison to PCRE
RE2 generally compares to Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE) in performance. For certain regular expression operators like | (logical disjunction or boolean "or") it exceeds PCRE. On the other hand, RE2 does not support back-references and cannot implement those efficiently. It is also slightly slower than PCRE for parenthetic capturing operations.
PCRE can use a large recursive stack with corresponding high memory use and have exponential runtime on certain patterns. In contrast, RE2 uses a fixed stack and guarantees that run-time increases linearly (not exponentially) with the size of the input. The maximum memory allocated with RE2 is configurable.
RE2 has a slightly smaller set of features than PCRE, but has very predictable run-time and a maximum memory allotment. This makes it suitable for use in server applications, which require boundaries on memory usage and computational time. PCRE, on the other hand, has almost all of the features that a regular expression library can have, but has unpredictable run-time and memory usage and can grow unbounded.
Use in Google products
RE2 is, for example, used by Google products like; Gmail, Google Documents and Google Sheets.[3] See GitHub for a documentation of the syntax: RE2 syntax.
In Google Sheets, it is used in the functions RegexMatch(), RegexReplace(), RegexExtract() and the find and replace feature. RegexExtract(), does not use grouping.
See also
References
- ^ Cox, Russ (March 11, 2010). "RE2: a principled approach to regular expression matching". Google Open Source Blog. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
- ^ "Releases". Github. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ "Search and use find and replace". Retrieved 24 March 2020.