ReGeX ˈrɛːɡɛx is a simple Android game, involving regular expressions (aka. “regexes”). It uses Perl syntax, as it is implemented in Java.
Currently there are three game modes, that can be selected and configured from the settings. These generate Tasks, set limits to how many characters may be used, and which solutions are successful an which are not.
All game modes are based on the same concept: the Task to solve will
be displayed on the screen as soon as possible (near immediately for
Random game, longer for REDB game), and then the user has to enter a
regular expression to solve the task. As soon as it fits to
conditions, it will be automatically submitted, and the next task
will generate - no questions asked. The user will be notified in
case s?he rises up a level.
The following modes have been implemented, with more to come:
This mode will randomly generate a Task, consisting of meaningless characters. As the game progresses, more and more characters are added, the amount of words on both sides grow as does their length.
There are no configuration options regarding this mode.
An example of a task, could be the following:
| Match | Don’t Match |
|---|---|
sy | jne |
sotx | caa |
f | rua |
This could be solved by any of the following expressions:
sy|sotx|f, [sf].*, [^ja]*, .*[yxf].
Keep in mind, that the shorter and more complex (sorry Unix-philosophy) your solution is the more points you get. Simple exclusion techniques will make it harder to level up.
REDB, which stands for Regular Expression Database, was made for two purposes:
- Offer a mechanism to access non-random Tasks, without having a static word-list.
- “Crowd-source” solutions to specific tasks.
Currently redb.org.uk is a public and free instance that ReGeX uses by default, but this can be easily change in the settings.
Regarding the second point: all submissions are (at least on the reference implementation) anonymous, and will not publish other kinds of meta data. The ReGeX game protocol, that maintains a strict linguistic format, won’t allow anything but requests, tasks and solutions to be processed on both sides of the connection.
Remember that by using REDB, you are required to have a working connection to the specified server (fe. no internet is required if the server is within your local network).
Expanding upon random games task generator, RWM will use a local word list as source. Most aspects are analogous to RG, expect that the user may add “new” words by specifying them in the settings.
A word list should uses a HTTP URL to download a document and add those lines which only consist of one word.
All active word lists are displayed below, together with the amount of words from this source. By long-pressing a record, the user will be given the possibility to delete it. All but one record may be deleted.
Currently the only “official” place is F-Droid.
Because of the way it’s licensed, anyone can take the code and publish it wherever they want to (assuming the conditions of distribution are met). Therefore anyone is free to publish this game, modified or not, on any platform. If anyone would decide to to do, it would be nice if they could contact me or somehow make me add the link to this page.
This game isn’t primarily made to learn how to use regexps, but should rather be used as a mean to “sharpen” you regular expression skills from time to time.
This particular issue has been raised in relation to the “Random game” Task generator.
The problem is that currently the functions, defined in Calc.java, produce (cryptographically secure) random Tasks, varying in length, intensity and other factors depending on the number of rounds played, the current score and level. This was done to ensure a “never ending” range of tasks. The contrary method would be to specify a task file, or something comparable, and have a finite set of acceptable tasks.
Regarding levelling: once a task has been solved, it will be rated immediately. Each game mode may rates solutions differently, but in the end the procedure is similar to that during generation.
There is (as of now) no finite and absolute “solution”, so if anyone has suggestions on how to fix this “problem”, please me send push request/patch/email/message.
To skip a task, long-press on the character counter. This will generate a new task. During task generation, this function is suspended.
Keep in mind that you will always be subtracted a certain amount of points when you skip a task. This, on the other hand, will make the next one slightly easier.
- It published under GPLv2+
- Contributions (of any kind) are welcome
- The current version is
v1.3 - The source is hosted…
- on GitHub
- my personal Site
- on GitLab
- Was written by Philip K.
- This project has no commercial interests, and won’t abuse the user