Regex to Match Version Strings with Optional Metadata in Python - Confusion with Semver Formats
I'm relatively new to this, so bear with me. I've encountered a strange issue with I need help solving I'm trying to create a regex pattern in Python to match semantic versioning strings like `1.0.0`, `2.1.0-beta.1`, and `3.2.1+build.123`..... However, I want to ensure that it captures the optional pre-release metadata correctly without failing the match for valid version strings. My current regex is: ```python import re version_pattern = r'^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(-([\w.-]+))?(\+([\w.-]+))?$' versions = [ '1.0.0', '2.1.0-beta.1', '3.2.1+build.123', '4.0', '5.0.0-alpha', 'invalid-version', ] for version in versions: match = re.match(version_pattern, version) print(f'{version}: {match.group() if match else "No match"}') ``` When I run this, I get the following output: ``` 1.0.0: 1.0.0 2.1.0-beta.1: 2.1.0-beta.1 3.2.1+build.123: 3.2.1+build.123 4.0: 4.0 5.0.0-alpha: 5.0.0-alpha invalid-version: No match ``` The regex seems to be working fine for most cases, but I want to ensure that it properly validates the optional parts without causing any failures for valid inputs. I also noticed that it doesn't match `4.0` as a valid version because I expect it to capture the minor version as `0`. Can someone guide to refine this regex so that it matches all valid semantic version formats, including those that omit the patch version? Any insights into best practices for regex in Python for version string validation would be appreciated! My team is using Python for this CLI tool. Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm developing on Debian with Python. Is there a simpler solution I'm overlooking?