String with different operators in JavaScript match

Question

I have the following JS var:

var tokens = str.match(/\[|\]|< number|\)|and |(?:(?!and )[^\[\]])+/g);

tokens is later used in a switch() statement.

This matches occurrences of:

• [
• ]
• < number
• )
• and (with a space at the end)

However, I would like to precede number not only by < but possibly also by other operators. The following are needed:

• >
• >=
• <
• <=

So match also has to look for < number, <= number, > number, >= number. Is there a quick and easy way to do this by, for instance, defining a wildcard/variable for the possible operators?

Answer 1

Use the expression [<>]=? number.

[<>] means either < or >.

=? is an optional = sign.