What is a zero-width assertion?

A zero-width assertion matches a position rather than characters, so it consumes no input. Lookaround assertions test what comes before or after the current position and then the regex engine continues from where it was, never advancing past the asserted text.

What is the syntax for negative lookahead?

Negative lookahead is (?!...). It succeeds at a position only if the enclosed pattern does NOT match starting there. For example q(?!u) matches a q that is not followed by a u. The syntax is identical in PCRE, JavaScript, Python and .NET.

Does JavaScript support lookbehind?

Yes. Lookbehind — (?<=...) and (?<!...) — has been part of the language since ES2018 and works in all current browsers and Node. JavaScript even allows variable-length lookbehind, unlike many other engines.

Which engines allow variable-length lookbehind?

.NET and JavaScript allow arbitrary-length lookbehind. Python's re module historically required fixed width, while the third-party regex module and PCRE2 support bounded or variable widths. Always check your engine before using quantifiers inside a lookbehind.

Do lookarounds capture text?

By default no — the assertion matches a position and the text it inspects is not part of the overall match and is not captured. You can still place capturing groups inside a lookaround if you need to reference the inspected text separately.

Regex Lookahead/Lookbehind Reference

Q: Which engines allow variable-length lookbehind?

.NET and JavaScript allow arbitrary-length lookbehind. Python's re module historically required fixed width, while the third-party regex module and PCRE2 support bounded or variable widths. Always check your engine before using quantifiers inside a lookbehind.

Q: Do lookarounds capture text?

By default no — the assertion matches a position and the text it inspects is not part of the overall match and is not captured. You can still place capturing groups inside a lookaround if you need to reference the inspected text separately.

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Lookaround assertions

Lookahead and lookbehind are zero-width assertions: they check whether a pattern matches just after (lookahead) or just before (lookbehind) the current position without consuming any characters. They let you match a position defined by its context — for example, a digit that is followed by a currency symbol, or a word not preceded by a backslash. This reference gives the syntax for each of the four forms across PCRE, JavaScript, Python and .NET.

How it works

There are four assertions, built from two axes — direction and polarity:

(?=...)   positive lookahead   — next text DOES match
(?!...)   negative lookahead   — next text does NOT match
(?<=...)  positive lookbehind  — preceding text DOES match
(?<!...)  negative lookbehind  — preceding text does NOT match

Because they are zero-width, the engine evaluates the inner pattern, records success or failure, then resumes at the original position. A classic use is splitting on context without consuming a delimiter, e.g. inserting thousands separators with (?<=\d)(?=(\d{3})+$).

Tips and notes

The four tokens are identical across PCRE, JavaScript, Python and .NET.
Lookbehind width is the main portability trap: keep it fixed-width unless you know the engine (.NET, JS, PCRE2, Python regex) allows variable width.
Lookarounds do not capture by default; add inner groups only if you need the inspected text.
Chain assertions at one position — (?=.*\d)(?=.*[a-z]) is the standard password-policy idiom.
A negative lookahead at the end, like foo(?!bar), is the readable way to say “foo not immediately followed by bar”.