title: Why is 'r' used in regular expression in Python?
body: <blockquote>
    <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
    <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2081640/what-exactly-do-u-and-rstring-flags-in-python-and-what-are-raw-string-litte">What exactly do “u” and “r”string flags in Python, and what are raw string litterals?</a>  </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  
  
  <pre><code>p = re.compile(r'(\b\w+)\s+\1')
  
  p.search('Paris in the the spring').group()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What is the meaning of <code>r</code> in the 1st line?</p>