When to use study option (S) of regular expressions? Topic is solved

[afe]

The study option (S) can sometimes improve the performance of a regular expression that is used many times (such as in a loop).

Does this mean that just using this option in a loop can improve performance?

[mikeyww]

Yes, it means that it might.

Studies the pattern to try improve its performance. This is useful when a particular pattern (especially a complex one) will be executed many times. If PCRE finds a way to improve performance, that discovery is stored alongside the pattern in the cache for use by subsequent executions of the same pattern (subsequent uses of that pattern should also specify the S option because finding a match in the cache requires that the option letters exactly match, including their order).

[afe]

OK, I will try, thanks!