How do I use non-greedy (lazy) matching in Vim regex?

Explanation

The \{-} quantifier in Vim regex matches as few characters as possible, unlike * which matches as many as possible (greedy).

How it works

• .* matches as much as possible (greedy)
• .\{-} matches as little as possible (non-greedy/lazy)
• \{-n,m} matches n to m times, preferring fewer

Example

In the text <b>bold</b> and <b>more</b>:

• /<b>.*<\/b> matches the entire string (greedy)
• /<b>.\{-}<\/b> matches only <b>bold</b> (non-greedy)

Tips

• \{-} is Vim's equivalent of *? in Perl/PCRE
• \{-1,} is the non-greedy version of \+ (one or more)
• Very magic mode: /\v<b>.{-}<\/b>
• Essential for HTML/XML parsing
• Use \zs and \ze for more precise matching control