Why Does My Regex Work in Python but Not in Go?

Regex Woes in Go: Why Does It Work in Python But Not Go?

In the realm of programming, regular expressions (regex) are invaluable tools for pattern matching and string manipulations. However, sometimes, regex unexpectedly misbehave across different languages. Case in point: a puzzling issue reported by a Go programmer, where a regex that flawlessly works in Python inexplicably fails in Go.

The code in question aims to match strings following a specific pattern: "=0xA-F". However, to the perplexity of the developer, the regex "^. =b0xA-Fb$", which captures this pattern in Python, produces the unexpected output of "false" in Go.

Upon closer inspection, the culprit is revealed: the use of conventional string literals in Go. Strings in Go are typically enclosed in double quotes, which allows for escape sequences such as "n" for line breaks. However, the regex pattern contains the literal "b", which denotes a word boundary. This conflicts with the Go interpreter's treatment of strings, which treats "b" as an escape sequence for backspace.

To rectify this issue, Go employs raw string literals, denoted by back quotes, which interpret characters literally, without any escape sequence substitutions. By enclosing the regex pattern in back quotes ("`^. =b0xA-Fb$") instead of double quotes, the code correctly matches the desired strings in Go.

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