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First, correctly written code can be bad practice. Regexes are a powerful tool, and have appropriate uses. I disagree this is one of those cases, but at -4 on my previous comment, I guess most don't agree. Second, I would bet the majority of programmers are mediocre with regular expresssions at best, and even worse at reading regexes written by other programmers contributing to code maintenance issues.

Finally, I may have been "incorrect" but "disingenuous" is an insult. I'll be charitable and assume you're using the word wrong.



Perhaps it's a difference of experience, but I really haven't met a professional programmer who doesn't understand regexes but still insists on using them for non-trivial tasks. Thus my usage of "disingenuous", because I have trouble believing that such people exist, and I felt you were trying to make a point insincerely, perhaps out of confirmation bias. I apologize if it came across as an insult -- it wasn't intended as one.


No harm, no foul. They really do exist, unfortunately.




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