regex

Pattern matcher example

In this example we shall show you how to use a Matcher and a Pattern in Java to match an input String to a specified pattern. To use a matcher and a pattern one should perform the following steps:

  • Compile a String regular expression to a Pattern, using compile(String regex) API method of Pattern.
  • Use matcher(CharSequence input) API method of Pattern to create a Matcher that will match the given String input against this pattern.
  • Use lookingAt() API method to match the input sequence, starting at the beginning of the region, against the pattern.
  • Use group(int group) API method to get the input subsequence captured by the given group during the previous match operation,
  • as described in the code snippet below.  

    package com.javacodegeeks.snippets.core;
    
    import java.util.regex.Matcher;
    import java.util.regex.Pattern;
    
    
    public class MatcherPatt {
    
        public static void main(String[] args) {
    
      
    
      Pattern regex = Pattern.compile("d.*ian");
    
      Matcher m = regex.matcher("darwinian pterodactyls soared over the devonian space");
    
      m.lookingAt();
    
      String res = m.group(0);
    
      System.out.println(res);
        
        }
    }
    

    Output:

    darwinian pterodactyls soared over the devonian
    

      
    This was an example of how to use a Matcher and a Pattern in Java.

Ilias Tsagklis

Ilias is a software developer turned online entrepreneur. He is co-founder and Executive Editor at Java Code Geeks.
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