How to Match Semantic Version Numbers with Regex

When working with software versions like 1.0.2 or 3.45.12-SNAPSHOT, it's common to use regular expressions (regex) to validate or extract these patterns. This Snipp shows you a simple and effective way to match such version numbers using regex.

What We Want to Match:

  • 1.0.2
  • 3.32.34
  • 3.45.12-SNAPSHOT

These are typical semantic version numbers and may optionally include a suffix like -SNAPSHOT.

The Regex:

^\d+\.\d+\.\d+(?:-SNAPSHOT)?$

How It Works:

  • ^ — Start of the string
  • \d+ — One or more digits (major, minor, patch)
  • \. — Dots separating version parts
  • (?:-SNAPSHOT)? — Optional suffix (non-capturing group)
  • $ — End of the string

Matches:

  • ✔️ 1.0.2
  • ✔️3.32.34
  • ✔️3.45.12-SNAPSHOT

Not Matched:

  • 1.0
  • 3.2.4-RELEASE
  • a.b.c

This pattern is useful when validating software version inputs in forms, logs, or build scripts.

regex
versioning
validation
programming
patterns

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