RegExp

RegExp

The Hermes regexp engine is a traditional engine using a backtracking stack. It compiles a regexp into bytecode which can be executed efficiently. For regexp literals like /abc/, this occurs at compile time: the regexp bytecode is embedded into the Hermes bytecode file. Note regexp bytecode is distinct from Hermes bytescode.

The regexp engine proceeds as follows:

1. Parse phase. The regexp parser emits a tree of nodes, effectively an IR.
2. Optimization phase. The node tree is traversed and optimized in various ways.
3. Emitting phase. The node tree is traversed and emits regexp bytecode.
4. Execution phase. The bytecode is executed against an input string.

Supported Syntax

As of this writing, Hermes regexp supports

1. All of ES6, including global, case-insensitive, multiline, sticky, and Unicode (and legacy).
2. ES9 lookbehinds.

Missing features from ES9 include:

1. Named capture groups.
2. Unicode property escapes.