How many characters does "*" replace?

The asterisk symbol "*" is a wildcard character commonly used in various programming and data management contexts, particularly in patterns and string matching. When used, it can represent 'zero or more' characters in a string.

This means that the asterisk can indicate that there can be no characters at all (zero characters), or it can represent any quantity of characters that may follow, no matter how many, including one or more characters.

For instance, if you use the pattern "a*b", it would match "ab" (where there are zero characters between 'a' and 'b'), "acb" (where one character 'c' exists), or even "aaaaaaab" (where several 'a's appear before 'b').

The interpretation of the asterisk allows for a flexible approach in searching and manipulating text, which is why it is specifically defined as replacing 'zero or more' characters. The other definitions, such as representing a specific number of characters or all characters, do not accurately capture the full range of possibilities for what the asterisk can represent.