Q: What does the “r” before the pattern string in re.search(r”Py.*n”, sample.txt) indicate?
or
Q: What does re.search(r”Py.*n”, sample.txt)’s “r” before the pattern string mean?
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Explanation: The letter “r” is placed in front of the pattern string in the Python expression re.search(r”Py.*n”, sample.txt) denotes that the string is a raw string literal. Backslashes are not utilized as escape characters within a raw string because they are instead handled as literal characters by the string.
For instance, if you don’t preface the pattern with “r,” you may need to express it as re. search(“, sample.txt) to match a single backslash in the file. It is possible to express it as re. search(r”, sample.txt) if you use the prefix “r,” which makes the pattern easier to understand and eliminates the need for any further escaping.
The regular expression pattern that is shown here makes use of the raw string literal, which simplifies the process of dealing with special characters that are often used in regular expressions.
