Iterate over a string 2 (or n) characters at a time in Python

Question

Earlier today I needed to iterate over a string 2 characters at a time for parsing a string formatted like \"+c-R+D-E\" (there are a few extra letters).

Answer 1

Maybe not the most efficient, but if you like regexes...

import re
s = "+c-R+D-e"
for op, code in re.findall('(.)(.)', s):
    print op, code