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34 Answers Sorted by: Highest score (default) 2 Next 4409 Locked. There are disputes about this answer’s content being resolved at this time. It is not currently accepting new interactions. V 9 You can’t parse XHTML with regex. Because HTML can’t be parsed by regex. Regex is not a tool that can be used to correctly parse HTML. As I have answered in HTML-and-regex questions here so many times before, the use of regex will not allow you to consume HTML. Regular expressions are a tool that is insufficiently sophisticated to understand the constructs employed by HTML. HTML is not a regular language and hence cannot be parsed by regular expressions. Regex queries are not equipped to break down HTML into its meaningful parts. so many times but it is not getting to me. Even enhanced irregular regular expressions as used by Perl are not up to the task of parsing HTML. You will never make me crack. HTML is a language of sufficient complexity that it cannot be parsed by regular expressions. Even Jon Skeet cannot parse HTML using regular expressions. Every time you attempt to parse HTML with regular expressions, the unholy child weeps the blood of virgins, and Russian hackers pwn your webapp. Parsing HTML with regex summons tainted souls into the realm of the living. HTML and regex go together like love, marriage, and ritual infanticide. The center cannot hold it is too late. The force of regex and HTML together in the same conceptual space will destroy your mind like so much watery putty. If you parse HTML with regex you are giving in to Them and their blasphemous ways which doom us all to inhuman toil for the One whose Name cannot be expressed in the Basic Multilingual Plane, he comes. HTML-plus-regexp will liquify the nerves of the sentient whilst you observe, your psyche withering in the onslaught of horror. Regex-based HTML parsers are the cancer that is killing StackOverflow it is too late it is too late we cannot be saved the transgression of a child ensures regex will consume all living tissue (except for HTML which it cannot, as previously prophesied) dear lord help us how can anyone survive this scourge using regex to parse HTML has doomed humanity to an eternity of dread torture and security holes using regex as a tool to process HTML establishes a breach between this world and the dread realm of crrupt entities (like SGML entities, but more corrupt) a mere glimpse of the world of regex parsers for HTML will ins tantly transport a programmer’s consciousness into a world of ceaseless screaming, he comes, the pestilent stithy regex-infection will devour your HTML parser, application and existence for all time like Visual Basic only worse he comes he comes do not fight he comes, his unholy radianc destroying all enlightenment, HTML tags leaking from your eyes like liquid pain, the song of regular expression parsing-will extinguish the voices of mortal man from the sphere I can see it can you see if it is beautiful the final snuffing of the lies of Man ALL IS LOST ALL IS LOST the pony he comes he comes be comes the icher permeates all MY FACE MY FACE chiged no NO NO000 NO stop the angles pre not reai ZALGO IS TONY THE PNY, HE COMES Have you tried using an XML parser instead?