Python regular expressions return true/false

Question

Using Python regular expressions how can you get a True/False returned? All Python returns is:

<_sre.SRE_Match object at ...>         


        

Answer 1

If you really need True or False, just use bool

>>> bool(re.search("hi", "abcdefghijkl"))
True
>>> bool(re.search("hi", "abcdefgijkl"))
False

As other answers have pointed out, if you are just using it as a condition for an if or while, you can use it directly without wrapping in bool()