What are the ways to search for several alternate characters without creating a capturing group

Question

Suppose I have a task to search for words that start with either a or b, for example all or bll words. I know I can use grouping and or operator like this:

(a|b)ll

But this creates a capturing group. Are there any other options?

Better question: What aspect of capture groups are you trying to avoid? Their purpose is for cases like the one you described* — The Dembinski, May 22 '17 at 17:52

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered May 22 '17 at 17:56

1

How about using square brackets instead of parens like: [ab]ll ?

answered May 22 '17 at 17:56

Douglas Tyler Gordon

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What are the ways to search for several alternate characters without creating a capturing group

1 Answers1