## Search for pattern 'bb' in string 'aabbcc'.
  ## All of the pattern must match, but it may appear anywhere.
  ## On success, match.group() is matched text.
  match = re.search(r'bb', 'aabbcc') # found, match.group() == "bb"
  match = re.search(r'cd', 'aabbcc') # not found, match == None

  ## . = any char but \n
  match = re.search(r'...c', 'aabbcc') # found, match.group() == "abbc"

  ## \d = digit char, \w = word char
  match = re.search(r'\d\d\d', 'p123g') # found, match.group() == "123"
  match = re.search(r'\w\w\w', '@@abcd!!') # found, match.group() == "abc"

>>> import re
>>> reg = re.compile("[a-z]+8?")
>>> str = "ccc8"
>>> print(reg.match(str).group()) #use group() to print the matches
ccc8