Python RegEx
A RegEx, or Regular Expression, is a sequence of characters that forms a search pattern.
RegEx can be used to check if a string contains the specified search pattern.
RegEx Module
Python has a built-in package called re, which can be used to work with
Regular Expressions.
Import the re module:
import re
RegEx in Python
When you have imported the re module, you
can start using regular expressions:
Example
Search the string to see if it starts with "The" and ends with "Spain":
import
re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search("^The.*Spain$", txt)
Try it Yourself »
RegEx Functions
The re module offers a set of functions that allows
us to search a string for a match:
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| findall | Returns a list containing all matches |
| search | Returns a Match object if there is a match anywhere in the string |
| split | Returns a list where the string has been split at each match |
| sub | Replaces one or many matches with a string |
Metacharacters
Metacharacters are characters with a special meaning:
| Character | Description | Example | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|
| [] | A set of characters | "[a-m]" | Try it » |
| \ | Signals a special sequence (can also be used to escape special characters) | "\d" | Try it » |
| . | Any character (except newline character) | "he..o" | Try it » |
| ^ | Starts with | "^hello" | Try it » |
| $ | Ends with | "planet$" | Try it » |
| * | Zero or more occurrences | "he.*o" | Try it » |
| + | One or more occurrences | "he.+o" | Try it » |
| ? | Zero or one occurrences | "he.?o" | Try it » |
| {} | Exactly the specified number of occurrences | "he.{2}o" | Try it » |
| | | Either or | "falls|stays" | Try it » |
| () | Capture and group |
Special Sequences
A special sequence is a \ followed by one of the characters in the list below, and has a special meaning:
| Character | Description | Example | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|
| \A | Returns a match if the specified characters are at the beginning of the string | "\AThe" | Try it » |
| \b | Returns a match where the specified characters are at the beginning or at the
end of a word (the "r" in the beginning is making sure that the string is being treated as a "raw string") |
r"\bain" r"ain\b" |
Try it »
Try it » |
| \B | Returns a match where the specified characters are present, but NOT at the beginning
(or at
the end) of a word (the "r" in the beginning is making sure that the string is being treated as a "raw string") |
r"\Bain" r"ain\B" |
Try it »
Try it » |
| \d | Returns a match where the string contains digits (numbers from 0-9) | "\d" | Try it » |
| \D | Returns a match where the string DOES NOT contain digits | "\D" | Try it » |
| \s | Returns a match where the string contains a white space character | "\s" | Try it » |
| \S | Returns a match where the string DOES NOT contain a white space character | "\S" | Try it » |
| \w | Returns a match where the string contains any word characters (characters from a to Z, digits from 0-9, and the underscore _ character) | "\w" | Try it » |
| \W | Returns a match where the string DOES NOT contain any word characters | "\W" | Try it » |
| \Z | Returns a match if the specified characters are at the end of the string | "Spain\Z" | Try it » |
Sets
A set is a set of characters inside a pair of square brackets
[] with a special meaning:
| Set | Description | Try it |
|---|---|---|
| [arn] | Returns a match where one of the specified characters (a,
r, or n) is
present |
Try it » |
| [a-n] | Returns a match for any lower case character, alphabetically between
a and n |
Try it » |
| [^arn] | Returns a match for any character EXCEPT a,
r, and n |
Try it » |
| [0123] | Returns a match where any of the specified digits (0,
1, 2, or
3) are
present |
Try it » |
| [0-9] | Returns a match for any digit between
0 and 9 |
Try it » |
| [0-5][0-9] | Returns a match for any two-digit numbers from 00 and
59 |
Try it » |
| [a-zA-Z] | Returns a match for any character alphabetically between
a and z, lower case OR upper case |
Try it » |
| [+] | In sets, +, *,
., |,
(), $,{}
has no special meaning, so [+] means: return a match for any
+ character in the string |
Try it » |
The findall() Function
The findall() function returns a list containing all matches.
Example
Print a list of all matches:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.findall("ai",
txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »
The list contains the matches in the order they are found.
If no matches are found, an empty list is returned:
Example
Return an empty list if no match was found:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.findall("Portugal",
txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »
The search() Function
The search() function searches the string
for a match, and returns a Match object if there is a
match.
If there is more than one match, only the first occurrence of the match will be returned:
Example
Search for the first white-space character in the string:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search("\s",
txt)
print("The first white-space character is located in
position:", x.start())
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If no matches are found, the value None is returned:
Example
Make a search that returns no match:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search("Portugal",
txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »
The split() Function
The split() function returns a list where
the string has been split at each match:
Example
Split at each white-space character:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.split("\s",
txt)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »
You can control the number of occurrences by specifying the
maxsplit
parameter:
Example
Split the string only at the first occurrence:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.split("\s",
txt,
1)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »
The sub() Function
The sub() function replaces the matches with
the text of your choice:
Example
Replace every white-space character with the number 9:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.sub("\s",
"9", txt)
print(x)
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You can control the number of replacements by specifying the
count
parameter:
Example
Replace the first 2 occurrences:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.sub("\s",
"9", txt, 2)
print(x)
Try it Yourself »
Match Object
A Match Object is an object containing information about the search and the result.
Note: If there is no match, the value None will be
returned, instead of the Match Object.
Example
Do a search that will return a Match Object:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search("ai",
txt)
print(x) #this will print an object
Try it Yourself »
The Match object has properties and methods used to retrieve information about the search, and the result:
.span() returns a tuple containing the start-, and end positions of the match.
.string returns the string passed into the function
.group() returns the part of the string where there was a match
Example
Print the position (start- and end-position) of the first match occurrence.
The regular expression looks for any words that starts with an upper case "S":
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt)
print(x.span())
Try it Yourself »
Example
Print the string passed into the function:
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt)
print(x.string)
Try it Yourself »
Example
Print the part of the string where there was a match.
The regular expression looks for any words that starts with an upper case "S":
import re
txt = "The rain in Spain"
x = re.search(r"\bS\w+", txt)
print(x.group())
Try it Yourself »
Note: If there is no match, the value None will be
returned, instead of the Match Object.
