On Jun 4, 4:52 am, erikcw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > > I need to match 3 small strings in a small text file (about 200 words > of text). > > Would it be faster to write 1 compiled regex that matches all 3 > substrings in one go, or to use 3 separate regular expressions to do > the same job? >
Taking your question literally: we have no idea how long it might take you to write alternative versions of source code. Guessing that you mean "Which would run faster?": both should run over a 200-word text file in imperceptibly different time (unless of course you make a mistake), and the time should be tiny compared to the time required to open the file (again unless of course you make a mistake). I'd suggest that as a learning exercise you do both, check the accuracy of both (text e.g. matching only 2 out of 3, sought strings in different orders, etc), and then and only then worry about the time it takes. HTH, John -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
