Python regex match literal asterisk

Question

Given the following string:

s = 'abcdefg*'

How can I match it or any other string only made of lowercase letters and optionally ending with an asterisk? I thought the following would work, but it does not:

re.match(r"^[a-z]\*+$", s)

It gives None and not a match object.

Answer 1

How can I match it or any other string only made of lowercase letters and optionally ending with an asterisk?

The following will do it:

re.match(r"^[a-z]+[*]?$", s)

1. The ^ matches the start of the string.
2. The [a-z]+ matches one or more lowercase letters.
3. The [*]? matches zero or one asterisks.
4. The $ matches the end of the string.

Your original regex matches exactly one lowercase character followed by one or more asterisks.

Answer 2

\*? means 0-or-1 asterisk:

re.match(r"^[a-z]+\*?$", s)