This is a collection of Regular Expression engines, a playground, and a comparison chart.
The Playground is a desktop application:
The comparison chart is an Excel file:
The following engines are included:
- Regex class from .NET 9.
- Regex class from .NET Framework 4.8.
- wregex class in C++:
- Standard Template Library, MSVC,
- Standard Template Library, GCC,
- SRELL 2026.05.
- Boost.Regex from Boost C++ Libraries 1.89.0.
- PCRE2 Open Source Regex Library 10.47 (in C).
- RE2 Library 2025-08-12 from Google (in C++).
- Oniguruma Regular Expression Library 6.9.10 (in C++).
- SubReg 2024-08-11 (in C).
- JavaScript RegExp
- Microsoft Edge WebView2,
- V8 (via Node.js) 14.1.146,
- QuickJs 2026-06-04,
- SpiderMonkey C145.0,
- JavaScriptCore (via Bun 1.3.131),
- RE2JS 2.8.6,
- Regex+ 6.1.0.
- VBScript RegExp object used in Publisher, Word, Excel, Access.
- Hyperscan 5.4.2 from Intel (in C).
- Chimera, a hybrid of Hyperscan and PCRE 8.41 (in C).
- ICU Regular Expressions 77.1 (in C++).
- Rust 1.95.0 crates:
- regex 1.12.4,
- regex-lite 0.1.9,
- fancy-regex 0.18.0,
- regress 0.11.1,
- resharp 0.6.16.
- regex-anre 2.1.1.
- real-regex 2026.7.26.
- Java 26.0.1 (java.util.regex and com.google.re2j packages).
- Python 3.14.6 modules:
- re,
- regex 2026.6.28,
- real-regex 2026.7.26.
- D 2.112.0 (std.regex module).
- Perl 5.40.2 (Strawberry Perl).
- Fortran Forgex v4.6 module (Intel® Fortran Compiler 2026.0.0).
- TRE 0.9.0 (in C).
- tiny-regex-c 2022-06-21 (in C).
- Ada GNAT.Regpat 15.2.0.
- TRegEx 29.0 (C++Builder, Delphi).
- QRegularExpression class (based on PCRE2) from Qt 6.9.3 (in C++).
- compile-time-regular-expressions (CTRE)2 3.11.0 (in C++).
- GRETA 2.6.4 (in C++).
- Zig 0.16.0 libraries:
- RE# 1.0.4 (for F#, C#, VB).
- Go 1.26.4 packages:
- Dart 3.12.2 RegExp.
- REAL 2026.7.26 (in C++).
The program can be built using Visual Studio 2026 (recommended) or Visual Studio 2022. The following Visual Studio workloads are required:
- .NET desktop development.
- Desktop development with C++.
Engines that require other software are precompiled, therefore no additional installations are required.
To build the program, open the RegExpressWPFNET.slnx solution. Right-click the RegExpressWPFNET project in Solution Explorer and select “Set as Startup Project”. Select “Rebuild Solution” from BUILD menu. Then the program can be started.
Note
To build the solution in Visual Studio 2022, the Platform Toolset option for C++ projects can be changed from v145 to v143.
- Principal GIT branch: main.
- Solution file: RegExpressWPFNET.slnx.
- Startup project: RegExpressWPFNET.
- Configurations: “Debug, Any CPU” or “Release, Any CPU”. The C++ projects use “x64”.
- Operating Systems: Windows 11, Windows 10.
- Main languages: C#, C++.
Note
After loading the solution file in Visual Studio, make sure that the RegExpressWPFNET project is set as Startup Project.
Note
To avoid compilation errors after acquiring new releases, use the “Rebuild Solution” command instead of “Build Solution”.
Enter the pattern and text to textboxes. The results are updated automatically. The found matches are colourised.
Use the Options area to select and configure the Regular Expression engines.
Press the “➕” button to open more tabs.
Currently the regular expressions are saved and loaded automatically.
The comparison chart (“Feature Matrix”) is an Excel file:
- which engines support named groups (
(?<name>...)or(?P<name>...))? - which engines support variable-length positive and negative lookbehinds (
(?<=...and(?<!...))? - which engines are protected against “catastrophic backtracking (ReDoS)” (pattern:
(a*)*b, text:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaac)? - which engines support fuzzy or approximate matching?
The answers are in the Excel file.
There is a notable advancement from several perspectives: