python regular expression repeating pattern matching entire string

Question

I am working with python regular expression basics .I have a string

start abcsd end sff start sdfsdf end s start dfsf end .

How do i get the strings in between consecutive start and end without matching the entire string?

Answer 1

use the start.*?end in the re. The question mark means "as few as possible".

Answer 2

>>> s = "startabcsdendsffstartsdfsdfendsstartdfsfend."
>>> import re
>>> p = re.compile('start(.*?)end')
>>> p.findall(s)
['abcsd', 'sdfsdf', 'dfsf']