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

Prevention is better than cure. Don't create such a heterogeneous list in the first place. Have a set of allowed strings and a list of compiled regex objects. This should make your checking code look better and run faster:

if input in allowed_strings:
    ignored = False
else:
    for allowed in allowed_regexed_objects:
        if allowed.match(input):
            ignored = False
            break

If you can't avoid the creation of such a list, see if you have the opportunity to examine it once and build the two replacement objects.