Is the negative character class faster? I had it before, but thought that using '.' would be slightly faster (though some times this feels like micro optimisation). Since its not a user defined list as such. It might be easier to read though.
Yes, because it avoids the useless look-aheads and backtracks on failed matches.
Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it. -- Brian W. Kernighan