regex101: Python Match Workspace

1st Alternative(?xs) (?<!')(?:'{2})*\B('\b[^'\\]*(?:(?:\\.|\b'\b)[^'\\]*)*') # Single quoted string literal

(?xs)applies the following effective flags to the remainder of the pattern: gmxs

x modifier: extended. Ignores unescaped whitespace and comments outside character classes

s modifier: single line. Allows a dot to match line terminators

Negative Lookbehind(?<!')

'the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:'{2})*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

'{2}the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆) , repeated exactly 2 times

\Bnot a Unicode word boundary

Group 1('\b[^'\\]*(?:(?:\\.|\b'\b)[^'\\]*)*')

'the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆)

\ba Unicode word boundary

Negated Character Class[^'\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

'the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:(?:\\.|\b'\b)[^'\\]*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

Non-Capturing Group(?:\\.|\b'\b)

1st Alternative\\.

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

.any Unicode character

2nd Alternative\b'\b

\ba Unicode word boundary

'the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆)

\ba Unicode word boundary

Negated Character Class[^'\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

'the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

'the literal ' (39₁₀ / 47₈ / 27₁₆)

Comment: Single quoted string literal

2nd Alternative # or (?<!")(?:"{2})*\B("\b[^"\\]*(?:(?:\\.|\b"\b)[^"\\]*)*") # Double quoted string literal

Comment: or

Negative Lookbehind(?<!")

"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:"{2})*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

"{2}the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆) , repeated exactly 2 times

\Bnot a Unicode word boundary

Group 2("\b[^"\\]*(?:(?:\\.|\b"\b)[^"\\]*)*")

"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

\ba Unicode word boundary

Negated Character Class[^"\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

Non-Capturing Group(?:(?:\\.|\b"\b)[^"\\]*)*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

Non-Capturing Group(?:\\.|\b"\b)

1st Alternative\\.

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

.any Unicode character

2nd Alternative\b"\b

\ba Unicode word boundary

"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

\ba Unicode word boundary

Negated Character Class[^"\\]*

*matches any number of characters outside the set below:

"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

\\the literal \ (92₁₀ / 134₈ / 5C₁₆)

"the literal " (34₁₀ / 42₈ / 22₁₆)

Comment: Double quoted string literal

Global pattern flags

g modifier: global. Finds all matches instead of stopping after the first

m modifier: multiline. Causes ^ and $ to match the start and end of each line, not only the start and end of the string

Search reference

Regular Expression

(?xs)
(?<!')(?:'{2})*\B('\b[^'\\]*(?:(?:\\.|\b'\b)[^'\\]*)*') # Single quoted string literal
|                                         # or
(?<!")(?:"{2})*\B("\b[^"\\]*(?:(?:\\.|\b"\b)[^"\\]*)*") # Double quoted string literal

Test String
New

I am "looking for" a way that doesn't break: "Lorem
ipsum\" AAAAA" in this case. Or this AAAAA case. Or this 'AAAAA' case.
Isn't this annoying?
I used to love the song Space Truckin'. It is 'AAAAA'.

Regular Expressions 101

Regular Expression

Test String
New

Substitution
Processing...

Regular Expression

Test StringNew

SubstitutionProcessing...

Test String
New

Substitution
Processing...