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Java Java Data Structures - Retired Organizing Data Splitting Strings

Posted by Anthony Logsdon
Anthony Logsdon
9,786 Points

Expected 11 words but returned 12 with ("[\\s+]"), passed with ("\\s+")

In the splitting strings code challenge, when I used brackets around the regex it returned an extra word. I took the brackets out and the code passed. What is up with that?

1 Answer

Florian Tönjes
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.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Florian Tönjes
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 50,856 Points
Florian Tönjes
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Florian Tönjes
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 50,856 Points

Hey Anthony,

if you put something in square brackets in a regex it will try to match each character in the square brackets. The plus inside the square brackets means that the regex will search for a plus sign. It's not using the "+" as a quantifier as it is in "\\s+".

For example, "[a+]" will match "aaaa" four times, while "a+" will match "aaaa" just once.

Kind Regards, Florian

Anthony Logsdon
Anthony Logsdon
9,786 Points

Thank you, that cleared things up for me!

Mladen Jovanovic
Mladen Jovanovic
4,662 Points

Thanks, Florian! Would have been nice if Craig had explained this before just telling us to use a regex expression that was not even mentioned in the lesson. I kept getting the same issue.