what about something like this? >>> import re >>> m = re.match(r"""(?P<operator>add|mult) (?P<int_1>\d+) (?P<int_2>\d+)""", 'add 3 5') >>> from operator import add, mul >>> op = {'add': add, 'mult: mul} >>> op[m.groupdict()['operator']](int(m.groupdict()['int_1']), int(m.groupdict()['int_2'])) 8
-- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list