Making regex suck less

[John La Rooy]

Bengt Richter wrote:

> 
> I agree about new syntax, but I wouldn't mind having a re.help(regexp) function
> for interactive use that would just explain in 'English' what the regexp expression
> stands for. It would be a nice easy double check on whether I wrote what I meant,
> and helpful for understanding someone else's magic. It shouldn't be that hard to do.
> 
> Regards,
> Bengt Richter

I think that's an excellent idea (probably has already been done, 
anybody know?)

It is unfortunate that often a re that starts off as a simple idea
turns out to be a big mess. I think some sort of graphical tool
would be even better so you could see what the re does. Especially
if it could convert both ways and allow you to edit the re.

John