Type of compiled regex object in python

Question

What is the type of the compiled regular expression in python?

In particular, I want to evaluate

isinstance(re.compile(\'\'), ???)

Answer 1

It is possible to compare a compiled regular expression with 're._pattern_type'

import re
pattern = r'aa'
compiled_re = re.compile(pattern)
print isinstance(compiled_re, re._pattern_type)

>>True

Gives True, at least in version 2.7