Python RegEx
In this tutorial, you will learn about regular expressions (RegEx), and use Python's re module to
work with RegEx (with the help of examples).
A Regular Expression (RegEx) is a sequence of characters that defines a search pattern. For
example,
^a...s$
The above code defines a RegEx pattern. The pattern is: any five letter string starting with a
and ending with s.
A pattern defined using RegEx can be used to match against a string.
Expressio String Matched?
n
abs No match
alias Match
^a...s$ abyss Match
Alias No match
An abacus No match
Python has a module named re to work with RegEx. Here's an example:
import re
pattern = '^a...s$'
test_string = 'abyss'
result = re.match(pattern, test_string)
if result:
print("Search successful.")
else:
print("Search unsuccessful.")
Run Code
Here, we used re.match() function to search pattern within the test_string. The method returns
a match object if the search is successful. If not, it returns None.
Specify Pattern Using RegEx
To specify regular expressions, metacharacters are used. In the above example, ^ and $ are
metacharacters.
MetaCharacters
Metacharacters are characters that are interpreted in a special way by a RegEx engine. Here's a
list of metacharacters:
[] . ^ $ * + ? {} () \ |
[] - Square brackets
Square brackets specifies a set of characters you wish to match.
Expressio String Matched?
n
a 1 match
ac 2 matches
[abc]
Hey Jude No match
abc de ca 5 matches
Here, [abc] will match if the string you are trying to match contains any of the a, b or c.
You can also specify a range of characters using - inside square brackets.
[a-e] is the same as [abcde].
[1-4] is the same as [1234].
[0-39] is the same as [01239].
You can complement (invert) the character set by using caret ^ symbol at the start of a square-
bracket.
[^abc] means any character except a or b or c.
[^0-9] means any non-digit character.
. - Period
A period matches any single character (except newline '\n').
Expression String Matched?
a No match
ac 1 match
..
acd 1 match
acde 2 matches (contains 4 characters)
^ - Caret
The caret symbol ^ is used to check if a string starts with a certain character.
Expressio String Matched?
n
a 1 match
^a abc 1 match
bac No match
abc 1 match
^ab
acb No match (starts with a but not followed by b)
$ - Dollar
The dollar symbol $ is used to check if a string ends with a certain character.
Expression String Matched?
a 1 match
a$ formula 1 match
cab No match
* - Star
The star symbol * matches zero or more occurrences of the pattern left to it.
Expression String Matched?
mn 1 match
man 1 match
ma*n maaan 1 match
main No match (a is not followed by n)
woman 1 match
+ - Plus
The plus symbol + matches one or more occurrences of the pattern left to it.
Expressio String Matched?
n
mn No match (no a character)
man 1 match
ma+n maaan 1 match
main No match (a is not followed by n)
woman 1 match
? - Question Mark
The question mark symbol ? matches zero or one occurrence of the pattern left to it.
Expressio String Matched?
n
mn 1 match
man 1 match
maaan No match (more than one a
ma?n
character)
main No match (a is not followed by n)
woman 1 match
{} - Braces
Consider this code: {n,m}. This means at least n, and at most m repetitions of the pattern left to
it.
Expression String Matched?
abc dat No match
abc daat 1 match (at daat)
a{2,3}
aabc daaat 2 matches (at aabc and daaat)
aabc daaaat 2 matches (at aabc and daaaat)
Let's try one more example. This RegEx [0-9]{2, 4} matches at least 2 digits but not more
than 4 digits
Expression String Matched?
ab123csde 1 match (match at ab123csde)
[0-9]{2,4} 12 and 345673 3 matches (12, 3456, 73)
1 and 2 No match
| - Alternation
Vertical bar | is used for alternation (or operator).
Expression String Matched?
cde No match
a|b ade 1 match (match at ade)
acdbea 3 matches (at acdbea)
Here, a|b match any string that contains either a or b
() - Group
Parentheses () is used to group sub-patterns. For example, (a|b|c)xz match any string that
matches either a or b or c followed by xz
Expression String Matched?
ab xz No match
(a|b|c)xz abxz 1 match (match at abxz)
axz cabxz 2 matches (at axzbc cabxz)
\ - Backslash
Backlash \ is used to escape various characters including all metacharacters. For example,
\$a match if a string contains $ followed by a. Here, $ is not interpreted by a RegEx engine in a
special way.
If you are unsure if a character has special meaning or not, you can put \ in front of it. This
makes sure the character is not treated in a special way.
Special Sequences
Special sequences make commonly used patterns easier to write. Here's a list of special
sequences:
\A - Matches if the specified characters are at the start of a string.
Expression String Matched?
the sun Match
\Athe
In the sun No match
\b - Matches if the specified characters are at the beginning or end of a word.
Expressio String Matched?
n
football Match
\bfoo a football Match
afootball No match
the foo Match
foo\b the afoo test Match
the afootest No match
\B- Opposite of \b. Matches if the specified characters are not at the beginning or end of a
word.
Expressio String Matched?
n
football No match
\Bfoo a football No match
afootball Match
the foo No match
foo\B the afoo test No match
the afootest Match
\d - Matches any decimal digit. Equivalent to [0-9]
Expression String Matched?
12abc3 3 matches (at 12abc3)
\d
Python No match
\D - Matches any non-decimal digit. Equivalent to [^0-9]
Expressio String Matched?
n
1ab34"50 3 matches (at 1ab34"50)
\D
1345 No match
\s - Matches where a string contains any whitespace character. Equivalent to [ \t\n\r\f\v].
Expressio String Matched?
n
Python RegEx 1 match
\s
PythonRegEx No match
\S - Matches where a string contains any non-whitespace character. Equivalent to [^ \t\n\r\f\
v].
Expression Strin Matched?
g
a b 2 matches (at a b)
\S
No match
\w- Matches any alphanumeric character (digits and alphabets). Equivalent to [a-zA-Z0-9_].
By the way, underscore _ is also considered an alphanumeric character.
Expressio String Matched?
n
12&": ;c 3 matches (at 12&": ;c)
\w
%"> ! No match
\W - Matches any non-alphanumeric character. Equivalent to [^a-zA-Z0-9_]
Expression String Matched?
1a2%c 1 match (at 1a2%c)
\W
Python No match
\Z - Matches if the specified characters are at the end of a string.
Expression String Matched?
I like Python 1 match
Python\Z I like Python Programming No match
Python is fun. No match
Tip: To build and test regular expressions, you can use RegEx tester tools such as regex101.
This tool not only helps you in creating regular expressions, but it also helps you learn it.
Now you understand the basics of RegEx, let's discuss how to use RegEx in your Python code.
