If you really want to know how to write an engine you probably need to start with some compiler theory. The traditional text for this is the dragon book ISBN 0201100886 by Aho and others. Other treatments may or may not be more helpful. Try searching for 'compiler design' on your favorite on-line bookseller. These books explain parsing theory and their state machines.

None of the above is useful for writing regexes that work well. For that follow the advice offered earlier (especially the advice to read Friedl's book on regexes).

Phil Update:Added isbn tag.

In reply to Re: internal engine of regular expression by philcrow
in thread internal engine of regular expression by spadacciniweb

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