Regex to validate date format dd/mm/yyyy

Question

I need to validate a date string for the format dd/mm/yyyy with a regular expresssion.

This regex validates dd/mm/yyyy, but not the invalid

Answer 1

Here I wrote one for dd/mm/yyyy where separator can be one of -.,/ year range 0000-9999.

It deals with leap years and is designed for regex flavors, that support lookaheads, capturing groups and backreferences. NOT valid for such as d/m/yyyy. If needed add further separators to [-.,/]

^(?=\d{2}([-.,\/])\d{2}\1\d{4}$)(?:0[1-9]|1\d|[2][0-8]|29(?!.02.(?!(?!(?:[02468][1-35-79]|[13579][0-13-57-9])00)\d{2}(?:[02468][048]|[13579][26])))|30(?!.02)|31(?=.(?:0[13578]|10|12))).(?:0[1-9]|1[012]).\d{4}$

Test at regex101; as a Java string:

"^(?=\\d{2}([-.,\\/])\\d{2}\\1\\d{4}$)(?:0[1-9]|1\\d|[2][0-8]|29(?!.02.(?!(?!(?:[02468][1-35-79]|[13579][0-13-57-9])00)\\d{2}(?:[02468][048]|[13579][26])))|30(?!.02)|31(?=.(?:0[13578]|10|12))).(?:0[1-9]|1[012]).\\d{4}$"

explained:

(?x) # modifier x: free spacing mode (for comments)
     # verify date dd/mm/yyyy; possible separators: -.,/
     # valid year range: 0000-9999

^    # start anchor

# precheck xx-xx-xxxx,... add new separators here
(?=\d{2}([-.,\/])\d{2}\1\d{4}$)

(?:  # day-check: non caturing group

  # days 01-28
  0[1-9]|1\d|[2][0-8]| 

  # february 29d check for leap year: all 4y / 00 years: only each 400
  # 0400,0800,1200,1600,2000,...
  29
  (?!.02. # not if feb: if not ...
    (?!
      # 00 years: exclude !0 %400 years
      (?!(?:[02468][1-35-79]|[13579][0-13-57-9])00)

      # 00,04,08,12,... 
      \d{2}(?:[02468][048]|[13579][26])
    )
  )|

  # d30 negative lookahead: february cannot have 30 days
  30(?!.02)|

  # d31 positive lookahead: month up to 31 days
  31(?=.(?:0[13578]|10|12))

) # eof day-check

# month 01-12
.(?:0[1-9]|1[012])

# year 0000-9999
.\d{4}

$ # end anchor

Also see SO Regex FAQ; Please let me know, if it fails.