Optimisation: (\\[^$&\\] | [^$&\\])*

Question

I have a long Regex (JavaScript), and it contains the following construct:

((?:\\[^$&\\])|(?:[^$&\\]))*

The regex says:

Match any String, that doesn't contain the symbols $ & and \\

The symbol \\ is allowed, if it's used for escaping. But only, if it doesn't escape one of the forbidden symbols.

Here's a simple match-example:

this & IsAText\\nWithNewLines $ And \\$ Forbidden \\\\ Symbols

I wonder if it's possible to optimise this regular expression. This is only a little example, the actual regex I'm using is bigger due to many different symbols I have to write twice.

Answer 1

why not just \\\\?[^$&\\\\] ? Optional \\ followed by your negate group.

It would make the whole thing (\\\\?[^$&\\\\])*