How to Match Repeating Characters in Go Strings: Backreferencing Alternatives?

Matching Repeating Characters with Regular Expressions in Go

In Go, it's possible to use regular expressions to match patterns within strings. One common task is matching characters that repeat consecutively. For instance, let's consider the string "abccdeff". Our goal is to identify and match the repeated characters, namely "cc" and "ff".

While other regular expression syntax (e.g., JavaScript) supports backreferencing to match repeated characters, Go's native regular expression engine (re2) does not. This limitation poses a challenge in achieving the desired outcome.

To address this, there are two primary approaches:

1. Utilizing Alternative Regex Libraries:

Certain third-party regex libraries, such as glenn-brown/golang-pkg-pcre, provide support for backreferencing within regular expressions. By employing these libraries, you can construct regular expressions similar to the example in JavaScript.

2. Iterative Solution without Regular Expressions:

Alternatively, you can opt for a solution that doesn't rely on regular expressions. This involves iterating through the string, comparing each character to its subsequent character, and identifying repeating patterns manually. While this approach may be more verbose than using regular expressions, it's a viable option for this specific task.

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