regex-utils
Shares rank 3 of 4 regex libraries by recommenders
Lets developers build complex regexes from smaller parts, with set operations like complement and intersection, and can generate passwords from regex constraints.
Lets developers build complex regexes from smaller parts, with set operations like complement and intersection, and can generate passwords from regex constraints.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Set operations like complement and intersection
“Your regex-utils library also interesting, especially the set operations part.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Generate Passwords from Regex Constraints” “You can really built cool tools with complement / intersection.”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “RE#: how we built the fastest regex engine in F#” Composing complex regex from smaller parts
“The ability to create a complicated regex from smaller pieces combined in a logical way is insane.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Generate Passwords from Regex Constraints” Generating passwords from regex constraints
“you can specify the constraints as regular expressions”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Privacy focused client side password generator”
Other regex libraries people recommend
The three most recommended other regex libraries, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| regex crate for Rust | 9 | 3 | 75% | 5 | — | — |
| PCRE | 6 | 4 | 60% | 5 | — | — |
| regex-utilsThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| RE# regex engine | 5 | 1 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“you can specify the constraints as regular expressions”
“You can really built cool tools with complement / intersection.”
“The ability to create a complicated regex from smaller pieces combined in a logical way is insane.”
“Your regex-utils library also interesting, especially the set operations part.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.