When exploring regular expressions (otherwise known as RegEx-es), there are many individuals who seem to see regular expressions as the Holy Grail. Something that looks so complicated – just must be the answer to any question. They tend to think that every problem is solvable using regular expressions.
On the other hand, there are also many people who try to avoid regular expressions at all cost. They try to find a way around regular expressions and accept additional coding just for the sake of it, even if a regular expressions would be a more compact solution.
Why are regular expressions considered so controversial? Is there widespread misunderstandings about how they work? Or could it be a broad belief that regular expressions are generally slow?