On 3/1/2023 12:04 PM, Grant Edwards wrote:
On 2023-02-28, Cameron Simpson <c...@cskk.id.au> wrote:Regexps are: - cryptic and error prone (you can make them more readable, but the notation is deliberately both terse and powerful, which means that small changes can have large effects in behaviour); the "error prone" part does not mean that a regexp is unreliable, but that writing one which is _correct_ for your task can be difficult,The nasty thing is that writing one that _appears_ to be correct for your task is often fairly easy. It will work as you expect for the test cases you throw at it, but then fail in confusing ways when released into the "real world". If you're lucky, it fails frequently and obviously enough that you notice it right away. If you're not lucky, it will fail infrequently and subtly for many years to come. My rule: never use an RE if you can use the normal string methods (even if it takes a a few lines of code using them to replace a single RE).
A corollary is that once you get a working regex, don't mess with it if you do not absolutely have to.
-- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
