Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Python Regular Expressions in Python Introduction to Regular Expressions Name Groups

Could not catch names properly

what might be the fault of regex

names.py
import re

string = 'Perotto, Pier Giorgio'
names = re.match(r'''
  ^([,\s\w-]*) #firstname
  ([\w-]*)$ #lastname
  ''',string,re.M|re.X|re.I)

1 Answer

Kenneth Love
STAFF
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest Teacher

Patterns match left-to-right, so you need to catch the last name, "Perotto" first. The first name has two parts, so be sure to allow spaces in your pattern. The comma is not part of either name, it's the separator.