Eclipse, regular expression search and replace

Yes, ( ) captures a group. You can use it again with $i where i is the i'th capture group.

So:

search: (\w+\.someMethod\(\))

replace: ((TypeName)$1)

Hint: Ctrl + Space in the textboxes gives you all kinds of suggestions for regular expression writing.

Using ...
search = (^.*import )(.*)(\(.*\):)
replace = $1$2

...replaces ...

from checks import checklist(_list):

...with...

from checks import checklist

Blocks in regex are delineated by parenthesis (which are not preceded by a "\")

(^.*import ) finds "from checks import " and loads it to $1 (eclipse starts counting at 1)

(.*) find the next "everything" until the next encountered "(" and loads it to $2. $2 stops at the "(" because of the next part (see next line below)

(\(.*\):) says "at the first encountered "(" after starting block $2...stop block $2 and start $3. $3 gets loaded with the "('any text'):" or, in the example, the "(_list):"

Then in the replace, just put the $1$2 to replace all three blocks with just the first two.