Python non-greedy regexes

>>> x = "a (b) c (d) e"
>>> re.search(r"\(.*\)", x).group()
'(b) c (d)'
>>> re.search(r"\(.*?\)", x).group()
'(b)'

According to the docs:

The '*', '+', and '?' qualifiers are all greedy; they match as much text as possible. Sometimes this behavior isn’t desired; if the RE <.*> is matched against '<H1>title</H1>', it will match the entire string, and not just '<H1>'. Adding '?' after the qualifier makes it perform the match in non-greedy or minimal fashion; as few characters as possible will be matched. Using .*? in the previous expression will match only '<H1>'.

You seek the all-powerful *?

From the docs, Greedy versus Non-Greedy

the non-greedy qualifiers *?, +?, ??, or {m,n}? [...] match as little text as possible.