Mr. Friedl was, apparently, the right man in the right place at the right time to write this book. If you thought learning regex would be too daunting, then you need to think again. With wit, humor and brevity, Mastering Regular Expressions is just what it says it is: you will not just understand regex, but you will have a mastery over it and be able to wield it like the weapon it is. It's simply one of the most used, most useful and most misunderstood skills a programmer can have - especially if you do anything with text including form validation, file parsing, formatted output based on values, etc. Mr. Friedl takes the reader on a well-planned trip that touches on the history of regex, the different types of engines and flavors, the nuts and bolts, some language specific magic, pitfalls to avoid and some wonderful examples. He doesn't tie the user to any one programming language, but instead focuses on the concepts and uses a variety of examples in multiple languages emphasizing that the language itself is not important, but that the concepts and the knowledge of how each language implements regex IS. This is one of those books where you will find yourself asking "How did I ever get by without knowing this stuff???" Do yourself a favor and not only buy this, but really read it and prepare to be pleasantly surprised as this esoteric meta-language becomes your secret weapon for not only getting exactly the data you want and need but for world domination!