re

import re

# get first email address
txt = "hello: support@example.com or sales@foo.cn"
m = re.search(r"[\w.-]+@[\w.-]+\.\w+", txt)
print(m.group(0) if m else "not found")  # support@example.com

# split string by consecutive whitespace
pattern = re.compile(r"\s+")  # compile
parts = pattern.split("a\tb  c\nd")
print(parts)  # ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']