How can test I regular expressions using multiple RE engines?

Regex Problem Overview

How can I test the same regex against different regular expression engines?

Regex Solutions

Solution 1 - Regex

The most powerful free online regexp testing tool is by far http://regex101.com/ - lets you select the RE engine (PCRE, JavaScript, Python), has a debugger, colorizes the matches, explains the regexp on the fly, can create permalinks to the regex playground.

Other online tools:

http://www.rexv.org/ - supports PHP and Perl PCRE, Posix, Python, JavaScript, and Node.js
http://refiddle.com/ - Inspired by jsfiddle, but for regular expressions. Supports JavaScript, Ruby and .NET expressions.
http://regexpal.com/ - powered by the XRegExp JavaScript library
http://www.rubular.com/ - Ruby-based
Perl Regex Tutor - uses PCRE

Windows desktop tools:

The Regex Coach - free Windows application
http://www.regexbuddy.com/">RegexBuddy</a> recommended by most, costs US$ 39.95

Jeff Atwood [wrote about regular expressions]( post:).

Other tools recommended by SO users include:

http://www.txt2re.com/">http://www.txt2re.com/</a> Online free tool to generate regular expressions for multiple language (@palmsey another thread)
The Added Bytes http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/regular-expressions-cheat-sheet/">Regular Expressions Cheat Sheet (@GateKiller another thread)
http://regexhero.net/ - The Online .NET Regular Expression Tester. Not free.

Solution 2 - Regex

RegexBuddy

Solution 3 - Regex

I use Expresso (www.ultrapico.com). It has a lot of nice features for the developer. The Regulator used to be my favorite, but it hasn't been updated in so long and I constantly ran into crashes with complicated RegExs.

Solution 4 - Regex

Here are some for the Mac: (Note: don't judge the tools by their websites)

RegExhibit - My Favorite, powerful and easy
Reggy - Simple and Clean
RegexWidget - A Dashboard Widget for quick testing

Solution 5 - Regex

If you are an Emacs user, the command re-builder lets you type an Emacs regex and shows on the fly the matching strings in the current buffer, with colors to mark groups. It's free as Emacs.

Solution 6 - Regex

http://www.rubular.com/">Rubular</a> is free, easy to use and looks nice.

Solution 7 - Regex

RegexBuddy is a weapon of choice

Solution 8 - Regex

I use the excellent and free Rad Software Regular Expression Designer.

If you just want to write a regular expression, have a little help with the syntax and test the RE's matching and replacing then this fairly light-footprint tool is ideal.

Solution 9 - Regex

couple of eclipse plugins for those using eclipse,
http://www.brosinski.com/regex/

http://www.bastian-bergerhoff.com/eclipse/features/web/QuickREx/toc.html

Solution 10 - Regex

Kodos of course. Cause it's Pythonic. ;)

Solution 11 - Regex

RegexBuddy is great!!!

Solution 12 - Regex

I agree on RegExBuddy, but if you want free or when I'm working somewhere and not on my own system RegExr is a great online (Flash) tool that has lots of pre-built regex segments to work with and does real-time pattern matching for your testing.

Solution 13 - Regex

In the standard Python installation there is a "Tools/scripts" directory containing redemo.py.

This creates an interactive Tkinter window in which you can experiment with regexs.

Solution 14 - Regex

In the past I preferred The Regex Coach for its simplistic layout, instantaneous highlighting and its price (free).

Every once in awhile though I run into an issue with it when trying to test .NET regular expressions. For that, it turns out, it's better to use a tool that actually uses the .NET regular expression engine. That was my whole reason to build Regex Hero last year. It runs in Silverlight, and as such, runs off of the .NET Regex Class library directly.

Solution 15 - Regex

Regexbuddy does all this. http://www.regexbuddy.com/

Solution 16 - Regex

see the accepted answer to this question: Learning Regular Expressions

Solution 17 - Regex

I'll add to the vote of Reggy for the Mac, gonna try out some of the other ones that Joseph suggested and upvote that post tomorrow when my limit gets reset.

Solution 18 - Regex

for online: http://regexpal.com/">http://regexpal.com/</a> for desktop: http://www.weitz.de/regex-coach/">The Regex Coach

Solution 19 - Regex

+1 For Regex Coach here. Free and does the job really well.

http://www.weitz.de/regex-coach/

Solution 20 - Regex

I am still a big The Regulator fan.
There are some stability problems but these can be fixed by disableing the Intellisense. It gets mad with some expressions and typos in building an expression.

Would love it if Roy Osherove updated, but looks like he is busy with other things.

Solution 21 - Regex

I like to use this online one: http://www.cuneytyilmaz.com/prog/jrx/ Of course, it'll be javascript regexp, but I've never yet done anything clever enough to notice the difference.

Solution 22 - Regex

How much is your time worth? Pay the $40 and get RegexBuddy. I did, and I even upgraded from 2.x version to 3.x. It has paid for itself many times over.

Solution 23 - Regex

I personally like the Regular Expression Tester.

It's a free firefox plugin, so always on!

Solution 24 - Regex

Also this regex plugin can be useful for eclipse and idea users.

Solution 25 - Regex

I like http://regexhero.net/tester/ a lot

Solution 26 - Regex

Check out Regex Master which is free and open source regular expression tester

Solution 27 - Regex

This regex tester able to test javascript, php and python http://www.piliapp.com/regex-tester/

Solution 28 - Regex

RegExBuddy so far I concur with and endorse.

Solution 29 - Regex

RegExr for testing with the Actionscript 3 (whichever standard that may be)

Solution 30 - Regex

http://rgx-extract-replace.appspot.com has the functionality to enlist the captured regex groups formatted in columns and optionally can replace the matched patterns in the input text.

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Onorio Catenacci	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Regex	Pat	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Regex	JimmyJ	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Regex	Tim Cochran	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Regex	Joseph Pecoraro	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Regex	Sébastien RoccaSerra	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Regex	Neall	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Regex	aku	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Regex	Sprogz	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 9 - Regex	Brendon-Van-Heyzen	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 10 - Regex	Kim	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 11 - Regex	Galwegian	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 12 - Regex	Adam Haile	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 13 - Regex	Nick	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 14 - Regex	Steve Wortham	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 15 - Regex	Will Dean	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 16 - Regex	Sam Hasler	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 17 - Regex	Teifion	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 18 - Regex	Dinah	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 19 - Regex	Lee Theobald	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 20 - Regex	Josh Miller	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 21 - Regex	Benjol	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 22 - Regex	Mick	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 23 - Regex	user213691	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 24 - Regex	baybora.oren	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 25 - Regex	roman m	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 26 - Regex	Yaplex	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 27 - Regex	Girvan	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 28 - Regex	Pat	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 29 - Regex	grapefrukt	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 30 - Regex	loki	View Answer on Stackoverflow