spsm_sol2

spm2.py

import re

sample_strm = "a%3b%2c:4d:5"

def split_sort_smart(input_str):
    base_list = re.split(r'(\w+%\d+|\w+:\d+)',input_str)

    split_pattern = '|'.join(map(re.escape,['%',':']))

    base_list = [l for l in base_list if len(l) > 0]

    #print(base_list)

    sorted_by_number = sorted(base_list, key= lambda x: int(re.split(split_pattern,x)[1]))

    #print(sorted_by_number)

    min_num_alpha = [re.split(split_pattern,spnumber)[0] for spnumber in sorted_by_number][:2]
    print(min_num_alpha)



if __name__ == "__main__":
    split_sort_smart(sample_strm)