Trying to understand the "preg_match()" syntax

[tmyonline]

Hi guys,

 

I'm trying to understand the syntax of the preg_match().  Below is the sample code from php.net

 

<?php

$subject = "abcdef";

$pattern = '/^def/';

preg_match($pattern, substr($subject,3), $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE);

print_r($matches);

?>

 

The $pattern contains a string '/^def/' .  Two questions:  why do I need the ' / ' character at the beginning and ending of this string ?  Also, what does the ' ^ ' character mean and why is it there ?  Thanks.

[sasa]

/ - start and end of pattern, you can use some comand out of that

^ - start of string

[The Little Guy]

you don't have to use / you can use ~ as well... basically some non-string character.. but not all of them, because the have certain meanings.

[discomatt]

Here's a little help with regex:

 

http://www.regular-expressions.info/

 

Bit of an advertisement for their product, but a very good tutorial and reference as well.