java · pattern · matcher · local

Generate Java code from a regex

Drop a pattern in, pick flags, and get a Pattern/Matcher snippet — compile, find, replaceAll, split — with backslashes correctly doubled for Java string literals.

Regex → Java
//g
Java
import java.util.regex.*;
import java.util.*;

public class RegexDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String input = "Reach alice@example.com or bob@test.org.";
        Pattern p = Pattern.compile("\\\\b\\\\w+@\\\\w+\\\\.\\\\w+\\\\b", 0);

        Matcher m = p.matcher(input);
        boolean isMatch = m.find();
        String first = isMatch ? m.group(0) : null;

        List<String> all = new ArrayList<>();
        Matcher mAll = p.matcher(input);
        while (mAll.find()) all.add(mAll.group(0));

        String replaced = p.matcher(input).replaceAll("[email]");
        String[] parts = p.split(input);

        System.out.println("isMatch=" + (first != null));
        System.out.println("first=" + first);
        System.out.println("all=" + all);
        System.out.println("replaced=" + replaced);
        System.out.println("parts=" + Arrays.toString(parts));
    }
}
Quick Start

How to use a regex in Java

Java's java.util.regex.Pattern and Matcher separate compile-time and match-time. Patterns are strings, so backslashes are doubled.

  1. 01

    Type a pattern

    Write your regex once — the tool doubles backslashes automatically when emitting the Java string literal, so \b becomes "\\b".

    Patterns are parsed with the JavaScript RegExp constructor, so syntax errors surface immediately and engine quirks like Unicode property escapes (\p{L}) require the u flag.

    patternECMAScriptliteralregex
    input · literalpattern · regex
    Pattern.compile("\\b…")
    loaded · ECMAScripttarget · ready
  2. 02

    Tune flags

    JS i/m/s/u/x map to Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE, MULTILINE, DOTALL, UNICODE_CASE, COMMENTS — combined with | bitwise-or.

    Each flag character mirrors the ECMAScript literal: g enables iteration, i folds case, m anchors per line, s lets . match newlines, u unlocks proper Unicode, y is sticky, and d emits indices.

    flagssampleg · i · mlive
    config · optionsflags · flags
    CASE_INSENSITIVE | DOTALL
    flags applied · livelive · preview
  3. 03

    Read the snippet

    Includes compile(), find() (first), iterated find() loop (all), replaceAll(), and split() — all in a runnable main method.

    The generator rewrites the regex for the target language — handling string-literal escaping, raw-string prefixes, and engine-specific syntax tweaks.

    codegentargetsnippetcopy
    run · outputpreview · code
    Matcher m = p.matcher(input)
    snippet · livecode · ready
  4. 04

    Copy code

    One click copies the full class — paste into your IDE or run with jshell.

    Copy writes via navigator.clipboard.writeText, so nothing transits the network and the output is byte-identical to what you see on screen.

    copyexportclipboardblob
    export · exportedready · saved
    Copied
    ready to shipsuccess
Pro tips

Regex patterns that don't melt down

Use named groups

(?<year>\d{4}) reads better than $1 and survives reordering. Supported in ECMAScript 2018+.

Anchor strictly

Use ^/$ with the m flag when matching whole lines. Without anchors, partial matches sneak through.

Avoid catastrophic backtracking

Nested quantifiers like (a+)+ can explode. Run patterns through ReDoS Detector first.

Escape every literal

Backslash any meta character you want literally: \.\$\^\*\+\?\(\)\[\]\{\}\|\\.

Test edge cases

Empty string, single character, unicode, the maximum length you expect — write fixtures for each.

Patterns aren&rsquo;t parsers

Don’t parse HTML, JSON, or balanced parens with regex. Use a proper parser when the grammar is recursive.

Use Cases

When to generate Java regex code

Skip the boilerplate when wiring a pattern into a Spring service, an Android app, or batch processing pipeline.

Spring validation

Annotate a field with @Pattern using the generated regex string. Compiles through the JavaScript RegExp constructor — engine quirks (Unicode property escapes, sticky matching, named groups) work when their flags are on. Error messages cite the exact position of any syntax issue.

ReDoS-safe

Android forms

Use Pattern.matches() in TextWatchers for live form validation. Pairs with the ReDoS detector to catch catastrophic backtracking before you deploy. A pattern that handles 1k-character input fine can become a denial-of-service vector on attacker-controlled 1M-character input.

ECMA-compliant

Log processing

Run find() loops over log streams in batch ETL jobs. Output exports as JavaScript, Python re, Java util.regex, .NET System.Text.RegularExpressions, PCRE, and POSIX — language quirks are highlighted on conversion so you don't ship a JS-only pattern to a Go service.

spec-grade

API parameter checks

Validate JAX-RS path parameters with a precompiled Pattern. Capture groups (named or numbered) round-trip cleanly into replacement strings, JSON output, or CSV extraction without re-typing. Backreferences ($1, ${name}) preserve semantics across languages.

cross-engine

Build-tool plugins

Use regex in a Gradle/Maven plugin to enforce naming conventions. Test against edge cases — empty input, single character, max length, multibyte boundaries — to catch off-by-one and zero-length match bugs before they reach production.

test-ready

Data migration

Apply replaceAll() during a JDBC stream transformation. All matching runs client-side so secret patterns never leave the browser. Useful when the pattern itself is sensitive (PII regexes, internal data formats, security filters).

production-ready
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Java string literals interpret \ as an escape character. To get a single backslash in the resulting regex you have to write \\ in the Java source. The tool handles this for you.
Pattern.compile(...) is expensive: parse the regex once, reuse the resulting Pattern. Matcher is cheap: create a fresh one per input string. Always cache Patterns at the class level.
Loop while (matcher.find()) and collect matcher.group(0) into a list. The snippet shows the canonical idiom. From Java 9+, Matcher#results() returns a Stream<MatchResult>.
matches() requires the ENTIRE input to match — equivalent to anchoring with ^ and $. find() looks for the next match anywhere — usually what you want.
No. The code is generated entirely in your browser.
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