`regex{n,}?` == `regex{n}`?

Question

-edit- NOTE the ? at the end of .{2,}?

I found out you can write

.{2,}?

Isnt that exactly the same as bel

Answer 1

Not exactly Using PHP to do a regexp match and display the capture

$string = 'aaabbaabbbaaa';

$search = preg_match_all('/b{2}a/',$string,$matches,PREG_SET_ORDER );

echo '
';
var_dump($matches);
echo '
';

$search = preg_match_all('/b{2,}?a/',$string,$matches,PREG_SET_ORDER );

echo '
';
var_dump($matches);
echo '
';

First result gives:

array(2) {
  [0]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "bba"
  }
  [1]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "bba"
  }
}

second gives:

array(2) {
  [0]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "bba"
  }
  [1]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(4) "bbba"
  }
}

With b{2} the capture only returns 2 b's, with b{2,} it returns 2 or more