Regular expression to search for Gadaffi

🧐 Searching for Gadaffi: A Regex Adventure!

So, you're on a quest to search for the word "Gadaffi," but there's a twist - it can be spelled in many different ways! 🕵️‍♂️ Fear not, intrepid reader, for I shall guide you through the treacherous lands of regular expressions to find your elusive target. Let's dive in! 💪

Understanding the Challenge 🕵️‍♀️

Before we embark on our journey, let's understand the context. Our friend here wants to search for the word "Gadaffi," which has a plethora of variants. The provided list contains 30 different spellings, ranging from "Gadaffi" to "Kad'afi." 😱

The Best Regex Solution? 🔍

Our brave adventurer has already made an attempt with the following regular expression:

\b[KG]h?add?af?fi$\b

While commendable, it seems we're still missing some variants. Let's enhance our regex to capture them all! 💪

Improving the Regex ✨

To create a regex that captures all 30 variations of "Gadaffi," we'll need to consider the unique patterns present. Here's the revised regex formula:

\b[GKQ][h']?([aeiou]dh){0,1}a(ff|dd)([iy]{0,1}|h){0,1}\b

Let's break it down:

• \b ensures that the word starts and ends at a word boundary.

• [GKQ] allows the name to begin with either "G," "K," or "Q."

• [h']? allows for an optional "h" or apostrophe at the beginning.

• ([aeiou]dh){0,1} handles variants that contain a vowel before "dh" (e.g., "Gadhdhafi").

• a(ff|dd) captures the core of the word, followed by either "ff" or "dd."

• ([iy]{0,1}|h){0,1} accounts for variations ending in "i," "y," or "h."

• \b ensures the word ends at a word boundary.

With this improved regex, we can successfully match all 30 spellings of "Gadaffi" and its variants! 🎉

Your Turn! 🙌

Now that you have the key to unlocking the secrets of searching for "Gadaffi," it's your turn to embark on this regex adventure for yourself. Put your regex skills to the test and find other elusive words with multiple spellings. Remember, practice makes perfect! 💪

Share Your Regex Stories! 📣

Have you encountered any perplexing regular expression challenges? Or maybe you've used regex to solve a fascinating problem? Share your stories in the comments below and let's learn from each other's regex adventures! 🚀

Happy regexing! ✨