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Classes for matching character sequences against patterns specified by regular
expressions.

<p> An instance of the {@link java.util.regex.Pattern} class represents a
regular expression that is specified in string form in a syntax similar to
that used by Perl.

<p> Instances of the {@link java.util.regex.Matcher} class are used to match
character sequences against a given pattern.  Input is provided to matchers via
the {@link java.lang.CharSequence} interface in order to support matching
against characters from a wide variety of input sources. </p>

<p> Unless otherwise noted, passing a <tt>null</tt> argument to a method
in any class or interface in this package will cause a
{@link java.lang.NullPointerException NullPointerException} to be thrown.

<h2>Related Documentation</h2>

<p> An excellent tutorial and overview of regular expressions is <a
href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/"><i>Mastering Regular
Expressions</i>, Jeffrey E. F. Friedl, O'Reilly and Associates, 1997.</a> </p>

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@since 1.4
@author Mike McCloskey
@author Mark Reinhold

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