Comments on: RegexBuddy 3.0 Beta http://blog.stevenlevithan.com/archives/regexbuddy-3-beta A JavaScript and regular expression centric blog Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:14:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Steve http://blog.stevenlevithan.com/archives/regexbuddy-3-beta/comment-page-1#comment-467 Steve Wed, 11 Jul 2007 22:12:23 +0000 http://blog.stevenlevithan.com/regular-expressions/regexbuddy-3-beta/#comment-467 I've been using Expresso for some time, as well. It's easily the best free regular expression tool I've used. That said, it's not at the same level as RegexBuddy, and only supports the .NET regex flavor. Nevertheless, I keep a copy of Expresso around for two reasons: - It supports balancing groups (the only .NET feature RegexBuddy doesn't support as of v3.0.0). - Its timer. Although not nearly as useful as RegexBuddy's debugger for identifying efficiency issues, it's still nice sometimes. It's important to note however that regex performance is highly engine-specific. On the flip side, RegexBuddy is packed full of elegant implementations of awesome features, a number of which aren't found anywhere else that I know of. Note that this blog post doesn't mention any of the cool features which existed before version 3, such as real-time regex syntax and match highlighting. I don't mean to disparage Expresso, because it's an excellent tool — and you can't beat the cost. But compared to RegexBuddy, IMO it's less user-friendly for the n00bs and offers comparatively little for the seasoned regex expert. By the way, RegexBuddy 3 is now out of beta. I’ve been using Expresso for some time, as well. It’s easily the best free regular expression tool I’ve used. That said, it’s not at the same level as RegexBuddy, and only supports the .NET regex flavor. Nevertheless, I keep a copy of Expresso around for two reasons:

- It supports balancing groups (the only .NET feature RegexBuddy doesn’t support as of v3.0.0).
- Its timer. Although not nearly as useful as RegexBuddy’s debugger for identifying efficiency issues, it’s still nice sometimes. It’s important to note however that regex performance is highly engine-specific.

On the flip side, RegexBuddy is packed full of elegant implementations of awesome features, a number of which aren’t found anywhere else that I know of. Note that this blog post doesn’t mention any of the cool features which existed before version 3, such as real-time regex syntax and match highlighting.

I don’t mean to disparage Expresso, because it’s an excellent tool — and you can’t beat the cost. But compared to RegexBuddy, IMO it’s less user-friendly for the n00bs and offers comparatively little for the seasoned regex expert.

By the way, RegexBuddy 3 is now out of beta.

]]> By: AJ http://blog.stevenlevithan.com/archives/regexbuddy-3-beta/comment-page-1#comment-460 AJ Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:44:56 +0000 http://blog.stevenlevithan.com/regular-expressions/regexbuddy-3-beta/#comment-460 Thanks for the informative post. I've been using Expresso to test and build regular expressions. Here's a review of the tool. http://dnchannel.blogspot.com/2007/07/expresso-best-regular-expression-tool.html Thanks for the informative post. I’ve been using Expresso to test and build regular expressions. Here’s a review of the tool. http://dnchannel.blogspot.com/2007/07/expresso-best-regular-expression-tool.html

]]>