# -*- coding: utf-8 -*- 
 
import string 
 
values = {'var' : 'foo'} 
 
tem = string.Template(''''' 
Variable : $var 
Escape : $$ 
Variable in text : ${var}iable 
''') 
 
print 'TEMPLATE:', tem.substitute(values) 
 
str = ''''' 
Variable : %(var)s 
Escape : %% 
Variable in text : %(var)siable 
''' 
 
print 'INTERPOLATION:', str%values 

TEMPLATE:  
Variable : foo 
Escape : $ 
Variable in text : fooiable 
 
INTERPOLATION:  
Variable : foo 
Escape : % 
Variable in text : fooiable 

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

import re

my_str = "(condition1) and --condition2--"
print my_str.replace("condition1", "").replace("condition2", "text")

rep = {"condition1": "", "condition2": "text"}
rep = dict((re.escape(k), v) for k, v in rep.iteritems())
pattern = re.compile("|".join(rep.keys()))
my_str = pattern.sub(lambda m: rep[re.escape(m.group(0))], my_str)

print my_str

() and --text--
() and --text--