note 102217 deleted from regexp.reference.repetition by salathe

Note Submitter: Anonymous ---- Using ".*?" makes the repetition Non-greedy, but DONT USE IT UNLESS NEEDED, otherwise preg_match (and the like) may return with error, perhaps silently. For example, the non-greedy element ".*?" is unneccessary: $pattern="/^<.*?>$/m"; $subject="<img src='www.web.com/picture1.jpg' /> <img src='www.web.com/picture2.jpg' />"; preg_match( $pattern, $subject, $match ); and MAY CAUSE FAIL!!! But it fails because you dont need it, and it perhaps confuses PCRE. Instead use Non-Greedy: $pattern="/^<.*>$/m"; and each image tag will be matched separately.