re.findall()

What You'll Learn: In this tutorial, you'll discover how to use the re.findall() function to find all non-overlapping matches of a pattern in a string. This function returns all the findings as a list.

Syntax

The syntax of the re.findall() function is:

python

re.findall(pattern, string, flags=0)

Parameters

pattern (required): The pattern to be found in the string.
string (required): The string in which the pattern is to be found.
flags (optional): Optional flags like re.IGNORECASE.

Return Value

The function returns a list of matches.

Examples

Finding Substring in a String

Example Code:

python

import re
pattern = 'abc'
string = 'abcdefabcab'
result = re.findall(pattern, string)
print(result)

Output:
```
['abc', 'abc']
```

Finding Pattern in a String

Example Code:

python

import re
pattern = '[a-z]+'
string = 'abc---cab-efg_web'
result = re.findall(pattern, string)
print(result)

Output:
```
['abc', 'cab', 'efg', 'web']
```

Non-Overlapping Occurrences

Example Code:

python

import re
pattern = 'aba'
string = 'ababaiiaba'
result = re.findall(pattern, string)
print(result)

Output:
```
['aba', 'aba']
```

Using Flags

Example Code:

python

import re
pattern = '[a-z]+'
string = 'aBC---CAB-eFg_web'
flags = re.IGNORECASE
result = re.findall(pattern, string, flags)
print(result)

Output:
```
['aBC', 'CAB', 'eFg', 'web']
```
Note: The re.IGNORECASE flag makes the function ignore case while finding matches.

Try It Yourself: Fun Exercises

Find All Digits:
- Create a string with numbers and letters.
- Use re.findall() to find all digit patterns in the string.
Match Words:
- Write a sentence and use re.findall() to find all words that start with a specific letter.

Summary:

In this Python tutorial, we learned how to use the re.findall() function to get all non-overlapping matches for a given pattern in a string. This function is powerful for searching and extracting patterns in text. Keep experimenting and have fun with Python!