perl to python, case + regular expression question

[Aahz Maruch]

In article <y7gd7k26jtd.fsf at bandersnatch.lerc.nasa.gov>,
Jim McKim  <mckim at bandersnatch.lerc.nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>if re.search('^log entry (\d+)', input_line):
>    match = re.search('^log entry (\d+)', input_line)
>    log_entry_num = match.group(1)
>    ...etc.

I'd write this as

re_log_entry = re.compile(r'^log entry (\d+)')
    ...
match = re_log_entry.search(input_line)
if match is not None:
  log_entry_num = match.group(1)

Note the use of the raw (r'') string to protect the backslash, the fact
that we're gaining efficiency by not compiling the regex in the loop,
and that check against None.
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