boost_1_45_0/libs/xpressive/doc/introduction.qbk

[/
 / Copyright (c) 2008 Eric Niebler
 /
 / Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
 / file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
 /]

[section Introduction]

[h2 What is xpressive?]

xpressive is a regular expression template library. Regular expressions
(regexes) can be written as strings that are parsed dynamically at runtime
(dynamic regexes), or as ['expression templates][footnote See
[@http://www.osl.iu.edu/~tveldhui/papers/Expression-Templates/exprtmpl.html
Expression Templates]] that are parsed at compile-time (static regexes).
Dynamic regexes have the advantage that they can be accepted from the user
as input at runtime or read from an initialization file. Static regexes
have several advantages. Since they are C++ expressions instead of
strings, they can be syntax-checked at compile-time. Also, they can naturally
refer to code and data elsewhere in your program, giving you the ability to call
back into your code from within a regex match. Finally, since they are statically
bound, the compiler can generate faster code for static regexes.

xpressive's dual nature is unique and powerful. Static xpressive is a bit
like the _spirit_fx_. Like _spirit_, you can build grammars with
static regexes using expression templates. (Unlike _spirit_, xpressive does
exhaustive backtracking, trying every possibility to find a match for your
pattern.) Dynamic xpressive is a bit like _regexpp_. In fact,
xpressive's interface should be familiar to anyone who has used _regexpp_.
xpressive's innovation comes from allowing you to mix and match static and
dynamic regexes in the same program, and even in the same expression! You
can embed a dynamic regex in a static regex, or /vice versa/, and the embedded
regex will participate fully in the search, back-tracking as needed to make
the match succeed.

[h2 Hello, world!]

Enough theory. Let's have a look at ['Hello World], xpressive style:

    #include <iostream>
    #include <boost/xpressive/xpressive.hpp>

    using namespace boost::xpressive;

    int main()
    {
        std::string hello( "hello world!" );

        sregex rex = sregex::compile( "(\\w+) (\\w+)!" );
        smatch what;

        if( regex_match( hello, what, rex ) )
        {
            std::cout << what[0] << '\n'; // whole match
            std::cout << what[1] << '\n'; // first capture
            std::cout << what[2] << '\n'; // second capture
        }

        return 0;
    }

This program outputs the following:

[pre
hello world!
hello
world
]

The first thing you'll notice about the code is that all the types in xpressive live in
the `boost::xpressive` namespace.

[note Most of the rest of the examples in this document will leave off the
`using namespace boost::xpressive;` directive. Just pretend it's there.]

Next, you'll notice the type of the regular expression object is `sregex`. If you are familiar
with _regexpp_, this is different than what you are used to. The "`s`" in "`sregex`" stands for
"`string`", indicating that this regex can be used to find patterns in `std::string` objects.
I'll discuss this difference and its implications in detail later.

Notice how the regex object is initialized:

    sregex rex = sregex::compile( "(\\w+) (\\w+)!" );

To create a regular expression object from a string, you must call a factory method such as
_regex_compile_. This is another area in which xpressive differs from
other object-oriented regular expression libraries. Other libraries encourage you to think of
a regular expression as a kind of string on steroids. In xpressive, regular expressions are not
strings; they are little programs in a domain-specific language. Strings are only one ['representation]
of that language. Another representation is an expression template. For example, the above line of code
is equivalent to the following:

    sregex rex = (s1= +_w) >> ' ' >> (s2= +_w) >> '!';

This describes the same regular expression, except it uses the domain-specific embedded language
defined by static xpressive.

As you can see, static regexes have a syntax that is noticeably different than standard Perl
syntax. That is because we are constrained by C++'s syntax. The biggest difference is the use
of `>>` to mean "followed by". For instance, in Perl you can just put sub-expressions next
to each other:

    abc

But in C++, there must be an operator separating sub-expressions:

    a >> b >> c

In Perl, parentheses `()` have special meaning. They group, but as a side-effect they also create
back-references like [^$1] and [^$2]. In C++, there is no way to overload parentheses to give them
side-effects. To get the same effect, we use the special `s1`, `s2`, etc. tokens. Assign to
one to create a back-reference (known as a sub-match in xpressive).

You'll also notice that the one-or-more repetition operator `+` has moved from postfix
to prefix position. That's because C++ doesn't have a postfix `+` operator. So:

    "\\w+"

is the same as:

    +_w

We'll cover all the other differences [link boost_xpressive.user_s_guide.creating_a_regex_object.static_regexes later].

[endsect]