Explain regex that finds CSS comments

Question

I found this regex code that finds comments in w3.org\'s CSS grammar page.

\\/\\*[^*]*\\*+([^/*][^*]*\\*+)*\\/
         


        

Answer 1

Token by token explanation:

\/    <- an escaped '/', matches '/'
\*    <- an escaped '*', matches '*'
[^*]* <- a negated character class with quantifier, matches anything but '*' zero or more times
\*+   <- an escaped '*' with quantifier, matches '*' once or more
(     <- beginning of group 
[^/*] <- negated character class, matches anything but '/' or '*' once
[^*]* <- negated character class with quantifier, matches anything but '*' zero or more times
\*+   <- escaped '*' with quantifier, matches '*' once or more
)*    <- end of group with quantifier, matches group zero or more times
\/    <- an escaped '/', matches '/'

Regex Reference

Analysis on Regexper.com