The subtraction of character classes

Suppose we have to match characters that belong to one class but not to another in a composite character class pattern. There is no separate operator for the subtraction operation. Subtraction is performed by using the intersection operator, &&, and a negated inner character class.

Note

A regular expression is usually more readable if we write the larger set in front and the one we want to subtract from it after the && operator.

For example, consider the following composite character class:

[0-9&&[^3-6]] 

It will match the digits, 0 to 9, except the digits, 3 to 6. This character class can also be written as a union of two character classes:

[[0-2][7-9]] 

We can also just use a simple character class, as follows:

[0-27-9]  
  

In order to match all the English consonant uppercase letters, we can subtract five vowels from uppercase letters, such as in the following regex:

[A-Z&&[^AEIOU]] 

We can also reverse the order of the two sets...