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Python Regular Expressions in Python Introduction to Regular Expressions Players Dictionary and Class

Andrei Oprescu
Andrei Oprescu
9,547 Points
Posted by Andrei Oprescu
Andrei Oprescu
9,547 Points

players doesn't seem to be a regex object

Hi!

I have a challenge code that looks like the one on the bottom of the question.

What is wrong with my code?

I get 'players' doesn't seem to be a regex object.

Thanks!

Andrei

players.py 
import re

string = '''Love, Kenneth: 20
Chalkley, Andrew: 25
McFarland, Dave: 10
Kesten, Joy: 22
Stewart Pinchback, Pinckney Benton: 18'''

players = re.search(r'''
    ^(P?<last_name>[\w\s]*), 
    (P?<first_name>[\w\s]*): 
    (P?<score>[\d]*)$
''', string, re.X|re.M|re.I)

2 Answers

Mark Chesney
Mark Chesney
11,747 Points

Hi Andrei,

If I were a better pythonista, I could explain to you why this works. All I can say for sure, is that this passes Task 1 of 2 (and that it's my original code).

import re

string = '''Love, Kenneth: 20
Chalkley, Andrew: 25
McFarland, Dave: 10
Kesten, Joy: 22
Stewart Pinchback, Pinckney Benton: 18'''

players = re.search(r'''
    (?P<last_name>[-\w ]+)
    ,\s
    (?P<first_name>[-\w ]+)
    :\s
    (?P<score>\d{2})$
''', string, re.X|re.M)
Andrei Oprescu
Andrei Oprescu
9,547 Points
Andrei Oprescu
Andrei Oprescu
9,547 Points

I looked back at the videos on this course and I found out the reason behind this.

When using re.VERBOSE in your re.search/findall/match the spaces outside any square brackets are ignored. But when using a normal space (' ') in a square bracket it understands only explicit spaces, not tabs or newlines etc.. That is why we use only \s outside square brackets when using re.VERBOSE.

Hope this helps!

Andrei

Andrei Oprescu
Andrei Oprescu
9,547 Points
Andrei Oprescu
Andrei Oprescu
9,547 Points

Thanks!

I reached a conclusion that I don't '\s' in the square brackets because it is just spaces. thank you for your help.

Andrei

Mark Chesney
Mark Chesney
11,747 Points

Thanks for clarifying that. I see the trailing-line spaces (' ') you've typed, which were lost due to the re.VERBOSE flag. Great catch -- now I know!