Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Terser VS RegExr

Compare Terser VS RegExr and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Terser logo Terser

JavaScript parser, mangler, optimizer and beautifier toolkit for ES6+

RegExr logo RegExr

RegExr.com is an online tool to learn, build, and test Regular Expressions.
  • Terser Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25
  • RegExr Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

Terser features and specs

  • Highly Effective Minification
    Terser provides comprehensive minification capabilities, significantly reducing JavaScript file sizes, which can lead to faster load times and improved application performance.
  • ES6+ Support
    Terser supports modern JavaScript syntax, making it suitable for projects using ES6 features and beyond, ensuring compatibility with the latest JavaScript standards.
  • Source Maps
    Terser can generate source maps, allowing developers to map minified code back to the original source code, which is crucial for debugging and maintaining large codebases.
  • Plugin Friendly
    Terser integrates well with various build tools like Webpack, Rollup, and others, offering seamless integration into existing development workflows.
  • Configurable
    Terser offers a high degree of configurability, enabling developers to tailor the minification process according to their specific needs and restrictions.

Possible disadvantages of Terser

  • Complex Configuration
    The array of options and configurations available in Terser can be overwhelming for new users or those unfamiliar with JavaScript minification processes.
  • Potential Bugs
    As with any complex minification tool, there's a risk of bugs or issues being introduced, especially if certain advanced or experimental features are used.
  • Performance Overhead
    Minification, in general, requires additional processing time during build steps, which can increase CI/CD pipeline durations, particularly for large projects.
  • Readability Loss
    Minified code is difficult to read and debug without source maps, so reliance on Terser makes generating source maps a necessity, which might not always be desired or feasible.
  • Dependency Maintenance
    Keeping Terser and its related dependencies updated can be a maintenance burden, especially if breaking changes occur between versions.

RegExr features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    RegExr offers an intuitive and visually appealing interface that makes it easy for users to write, test, and understand regular expressions.
  • Real-time Feedback
    Changes to the regular expression and input text are reflected immediately, allowing users to see the effects of their adjustments in real-time.
  • Built-in Cheatsheet
    RegExr includes a handy cheatsheet that provides quick access to common regex patterns and syntax, making it easier for users to learn and reference rules.
  • Community Examples
    Users can explore and share community-generated regex patterns, which can serve as valuable examples or starting points for creating their own regex.
  • Detailed Explanation
    Each part of the regex pattern can be hovered over to display detailed tooltips explaining its function, aiding in the understanding of complex expressions.
  • Cross-Platform Accessibility
    As a web-based tool, RegExr can be accessed from any modern browser without the need for installation, making it convenient to use on multiple devices.

Possible disadvantages of RegExr

  • Limited Offline Use
    Since RegExr is a web-based application, it requires an internet connection, limiting its utility for users who need to work offline.
  • Learning Curve
    While the tool is user-friendly, users still need to have a foundational understanding of regular expressions to use RegExr effectively.
  • Performance Issues
    For extremely large inputs or very complex regular expressions, the tool may experience performance lags or slowdowns.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    RegExr may lack some advanced features found in more specialized or professional regex tools, such as integration with development environments or extensive scripting capabilities.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Users inputting sensitive data need to be cautious, as the web-based nature of the tool could raise privacy or data security concerns.

Analysis of RegExr

Overall verdict

  • RegExr is widely regarded as an excellent tool for working with regular expressions due to its comprehensive feature set and ease of use.

Why this product is good

  • RegExr is considered a good tool for learning, creating, testing, and sharing regular expressions (regex). It offers a user-friendly interface, extensive documentation, real-time regex parsing, highlighting, and explanations, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced users. The platform provides a library of community-contributed patterns and a robust set of tools that helps users understand and construct regex patterns effectively.

Recommended for

  • Beginners learning regular expressions.
  • Developers needing to test and refine regex patterns.
  • Educators teaching regex concepts.
  • Anyone requiring an intuitive interface to work with regular expressions.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Terser and RegExr)
Web Application Bundler
100 100%
0% 0
Programming Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Tool
100 100%
0% 0
Regular Expressions
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RegExr seems to be a lot more popular than Terser. While we know about 368 links to RegExr, we've tracked only 13 mentions of Terser. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Terser mentions (13)

  • 10 Bad Habits That Can Slow Down Your JavaScript Applications 🐌
    Example: You've got a main.js file that's as long as a Tolstoy novel. Fix: Use tools like UglifyJS or Terser to minify your code. They'll squeeze out all the unnecessary bits and give you a sleeker, faster-loading file. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Things you forgot because of React
    They can do it, it is just turned off by default and require more advanced configuration. https://github.com/terser/terser#cli-mangling-property-names.... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Understanding Source Maps: Simplifying Debugging
    Minifying is a common practice for optimizing production code. (for example, using Terser to minify and mangle JavaScript). - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Minify private methods in a TypeScript class
    Terser is JavaScript compressor that can minified specific method names. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • React Native CI/CD build speed improved by 22% with one line of code
    Every release build of React Native uses terser to reduce the size of your JavaScript. And it operation can be omitted for Staging/Beta builds. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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RegExr mentions (368)

  • Learning Perl - Regular Expressions
    Use Online Tools: There are many online regex testers and visualizers that can help you see how your patterns match against sample text. These tools often provide explanations for each part of the regex. I personally use https://regexr.com/. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • The importance of the environment in Regex pattern matching
    However - here it becomes weird - when testing the original regex rule (the first one, without the \u00A0 part) on the same string in an interactive visualiser (https://regexr.com/ for instance), there is a match:. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: How did you learn Regex?
    Learned regex in the 90's from the Perl documentation, or possibly one of the oreilly perl references. That was a time where printed language references were more convenient than searching the internet. Perl still includes a shell component for accessing it's documentation, that was invaluable in those ancient times. Perl's regex documentation is rather fantastic. `perldoc perlre` from your terminal. Or... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Ask HN: How did you learn Regex?
    I read a lot on https://www.regular-expressions.info and experimented on https://rubular.com since I was also learning Ruby at the time. https://regexr.com is another good tool that breaks down your regex and matches. One of the things I remember being difficult at the beginning was the subtle differences between implementations, like `^` meaning "beginning of line" in Ruby (and others) but meaning "beginning of... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Ask HN: How did you learn Regex?
    Mostly building things that needed complex RegEx, and debugging my regular expressions with https://regexr.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Terser and RegExr, you can also consider the following products

JavaScript Obfuscator - JavaScript Obfuscator is a free online tool that obfuscates your source code, preventing it from being stolen and used without permission.

regular expressions 101 - Extensive regex tester and debugger with highlighting for PHP, PCRE, Python and JavaScript.

UglifyJS - JavaScript minifier, beautifier, mangler and parser toolkit.

rubular - A ruby based regular expression editor

Closure Compiler - The Closure Compiler is a tool for making JavaScript download and run faster.

Expresso - The award-winning Expresso editor is equally suitable as a teaching tool for the beginning user of regular expressions or as a full-featured development environment for the experienced programmer with an extensive knowledge of regular expressions.