Microsoft and Alphabet both reported mostly strong results Tuesday, but the disparate reactions from investors showed that Wall Street only cares about AI now.
As a dev, I honestly can’t understand that. I probably use regex a dozen times a day. Basic regex is so easy and useful, but describing exactly what you want is so iffy for an AI. The basics of regex are also so easy. It’s not like most people are trying to, say, parse an email address with regex. Most usage is basic, like “extract this consistent pattern from this text” or “remove this (simple) parameter from this function”. It takes me seconds to come up with a working regex in most cases.
There are many of us, myself included, who struggle with Regex. We are common enough that there is a pretty standard joke among developers that if you have a problem and solve it with Regex, congratulations you now have two problems.
I appreciate what you’re saying and you’re a god among men if you are proficient in Regex but you’re not the norm.
As a dev, I honestly can’t understand that. I probably use regex a dozen times a day. Basic regex is so easy and useful, but describing exactly what you want is so iffy for an AI. The basics of regex are also so easy. It’s not like most people are trying to, say, parse an email address with regex. Most usage is basic, like “extract this consistent pattern from this text” or “remove this (simple) parameter from this function”. It takes me seconds to come up with a working regex in most cases.
There are many of us, myself included, who struggle with Regex. We are common enough that there is a pretty standard joke among developers that if you have a problem and solve it with Regex, congratulations you now have two problems.
I appreciate what you’re saying and you’re a god among men if you are proficient in Regex but you’re not the norm.