Regular expressions also known as Regex are unique sequences of characters that form a search pattern. This pattern is then used to match, find or manage text. This article serves as a simple guide on how to install Regex in Python.
Step 1: Check your Python Installation
Python comes pre-installed on many Unix and Unix-like systems. To check whether you have Python installed on your workstation, open your command prompt or terminal and input the following command:
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python --version |
If Python is correctly installed on your machine, you should see a response similar to the following:
Python 2.7.15+
Step 2: Installing Regex
While Python includes a package for working with regular expressions called re, the regex package offers additional functionality. You can install this package via Python’s package installer, pip. Enter the following command into your command prompt:
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pip install regex |
Step 3: Verifying the Installation
To confirm whether the Regex library has been properly installed on your machine, you can import it as a module to a Python script. Open your Python environment or create a new Python file and type in the following code:
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import regex |
If the import is successful without errors, then the Regex library has been installed correctly.
Full Python code example
The following shows the full code importing the regex module:
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import regex print(regex.__version__) |
Conclusion
Installation of the Regex library in Python is a straightforward process that involves just a few steps. Having this package installed significantly boosts your text processing abilities by providing a powerful tool for pattern matching and manipulation.