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Course

Learn the Basics of Regular Expressions

Get a taste of regular expressions (regex), a powerful search pattern language to quickly find the text you’re looking for.

4.65 out of 5 stars
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27,567 learners enrolled
  • Skill level

    Beginner
  • Time to complete

    Approx. 1 hour
  • Certificate of completion

    Included with paid plans
  • Prerequisites

    None

About this course

Regular expressions, or regex for short, are one of the most powerful and applicable techniques in programming. We can use regular expressions to search for and find patterns in strings. They can be used in nearly every language, and they allow us to validate user input, perform search tasks, and even test code. Learn the rules of regular expressions so that you can apply them in any language of your choosing.

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Hands-on learning

Don’t just watch or read about someone else coding — write your own code live in our online, interactive platform. You’ll even get AI-driven recommendations on what you need to review to help keep you on track.
Animated demonstration of running code in Codecademy's learning environment

Learn the Basics of Regular Expressions course ratings and reviews

4.65 out of 5 stars
393 ratings
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  • The progress I have made since starting to use codecademy is immense! I can study for short periods or long periods at my own convenience - mostly late in the evenings.
    Chris
    Codecademy Learner @ USA
  • I felt like I learned months in a week. I love how Codecademy uses learning by practice and gives great challenges to help the learner to understand a new concept and subject.
    Rodrigo
    Codecademy Learner @ UK
  • Brilliant learning experience. Very interactive. Literally a game changer if you're learning on your own.
    John-Andrew
    Codecademy Learner @ USA

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Frequently asked questions about the Basics of Regular Expressions

  • Regular expressions (RegExs) are sequences of characters defining a pattern of text that needs to be found.