C++: what regex library should I use?

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+10 Q:

C++: what regex library should I use?

I'm working on a commercial (not open source) C++ project that runs on a linux-based system. I need to do some regex within the C++ code. (I know: I now have 2 problems.)

QUESTION: What libraries do people who regularly do regex from C/C++ recommend I look into? A quick search has brought the following to my attention:

1) Boost.Regex (I need to go read the Boost Software License, but this question is not about software licenses)

2) C (not C++) POSIX regex (#include <regex.h>, regcomp, regexec, etc.)

3) http://freshmeat.net/projects/cpp_regex/ (I know nothing about this one; seems to be GPL, therefore not usable on this project)

Thanks.

+7 A:

In C++ projects past, I have used PCRE with good success. It's very complete and well-tested since it's used in many high profile projects. And I see that Google has contributed a set of C++ wrappers for PCRE recently, too.

Greg Hewgill 2008-10-08 07:12:10

+6 A:

C++ has a builtin regex library since TR1. AFAIK Boost's regex library is very compatible with it and can be used as a replacement, if your standard library doesn't provide TR1.

Kasprzol 2008-10-08 07:27:09

What compiler has TR1? My copy of g++ 4.1.2 (Debian Etch) does not have support for #include <regex> but thanks for bringing TR1 to my attention, I had forgotten.For others curious to know more on TR1 and C++0x, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_Report_1

Stéphane 2008-10-08 07:36:34

As of SP1 Visual Studio 2008 has most of TR1, including regex. I know it doesn't help you on Linux, but others may be interested. Dinkumware also supports TR1 on gcc.

Michael Burr 2008-10-08 08:18:24

As I wrote, if your std library doesn't have regex, then you can use boost: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_36_0/doc/html/boost_tr1/subject_list.html#boost_tr1.subject_list.regex

Kasprzol 2008-10-08 08:27:09

+7 A:

Boost has regex in it.

That should fill the bill

Robert Gould 2008-10-08 07:53:59

+3 A:

I've personally always used boost.regex (although I don't have much need for regex in C++). Microsoft Labs has a regex library too, called GRETA: http://research.microsoft.com/projects/greta/. Apparently it's very fast and features a whole Perl 5 syntax. I haven't used it, but you may want to test it out.

Roel 2008-10-08 08:25:38

GRETA (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/bd99f343-4ff4-4041-8293-34c054efe749/default.aspx) was made by Eric Niebler when he worked at Microsoft (1998-2001 from GRETA's header files). Eric Niebler then made in 2007 Boost.Xpressive. People should use Boost.Xpressive because it's newer and has a nicer license than "Microsoft Research end user license agreement"

Cristian Adam 2009-09-08 15:14:55

+23 A:

Boost.Regex is very good and is slated to become part of the C++0x standard (it's already in TR1).

Personally, I find Boost.Xpressive much nicer to work with. It is a header-only library and it has some nice features such as static regexes (regexes compiled at compile time).

Ferruccio 2008-10-08 11:46:45

+3 A:

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I tried out a few things today, and with the stuff we're trying to do, I opted for the simplest solution where I don't have to download any other 3rd-party library. In the end, I #include <regex.h> and used the standard C POSIX calls regcomp() and regexec(). Not C++, but in a pinch this proved to be the easiest.

Stéphane 2008-10-09 05:36:36

I faced a similar situation and ended up using Henry Spencers Regexp Engine http://www.codeproject.com/KB/string/spencerregexp.aspx

2010-04-21 10:09:58

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C++: what regex library should I use?

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