# coding=utf8
# the above tag defines encoding for this document and is for Python 2.x compatibility
import re
regex = r"^ab.*[zy].*s"
test_str = ("abrazos\n"
"abyes\n"
"abys\n"
"abysm\n"
"abysmal\n"
"abysmally\n"
"abysms\n"
"free\n"
"friday\n"
"smelly\n\n"
"Write a regular expression to find all words which have the first two characters of \"ab\", and after that at some point EITHER a \"z\" or a \"y\", and then after that at some point an \"s\". The \"s\" does not have to be at the end of the word. \n\n"
"So the following words are all examples of words which you should be able to find (although there are many more words which match which are not listed here):")
matches = re.search(regex, test_str)
if matches:
print ("Match was found at {start}-{end}: {match}".format(start = matches.start(), end = matches.end(), match = matches.group()))
for groupNum in range(0, len(matches.groups())):
groupNum = groupNum + 1
print ("Group {groupNum} found at {start}-{end}: {group}".format(groupNum = groupNum, start = matches.start(groupNum), end = matches.end(groupNum), group = matches.group(groupNum)))
# Note: for Python 2.7 compatibility, use ur"" to prefix the regex and u"" to prefix the test string and substitution.
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Python, please visit: https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html