CODEWITHSUNDEEP
regexmathinteger
Joe Nelson
Joe Nelson

Reputation: 549

Creating a regular expression to add two numbers

This question is purely for fun. Are regular expressions powerful enough to actually add any two positive integers? By that I mean replacing the string a+b with the numerical value of a+b.

I realize this depends on the notation we choose for numbers. Certainly if we write them as tally marks the regex is easy, just remove the plus symbol. How about numbers written in binary? Any way to do it, or convincing reasons why it is impossible?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 4911

Answers (2)

Jack
Jack

Reputation: 133629

I would say no if we're talking about basic ones, since regex language is not Turing complete, maybe with powerful exsensions (eg recursive substitutions or similar tools)..

Upvotes: 0

manojlds
manojlds

Reputation: 301527

Since this is for fun and to see power of regex:

Find prime numbers using regex - http://www.noulakaz.net/weblog/2007/03/18/a-regular-expression-to-check-for-prime-numbers/

Upvotes: 1

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