Python from Scratch

Python Strings
Lesson 7
• Python Strings
• Assign String to a Variable
• Multiline Strings
• Strings are Arrays
• Looping Through a String
• String Length
• Check String
• Check if NOT
• Python Slicing Strings
• Slicing
• Slice From the Start
• Slice To the End
• Negative Indexing
• Python Modify Strings
• Upper Case
• Lower Case
• Remove Whitespace
• Replace String
• Split String
• Python String Concatenation
• Python Format Strings
• Python Escape Characters
• Python - String Methods
• Python - String Exercises
 Python Strings
Strings

Strings in python are surrounded by either single quotation marks, or double

quotation marks.

'hello' is the same as "hello".

You can display a string literal with the print() function:

Example
print("Hello")
print('Hello')

Assign String to a Variable

Assigning a string to a variable is done with the variable name followed by an

equal sign and the string:

Example
a = "Hello"
print(a)
Multiline Strings

You can assign a multiline string to a variable by using three quotes:

Example
You can use three double quotes:
a = """Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."""
print(a)

• Or three single quotes:

Example
a = '''Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.'''
print(a)

Note: in the result, the line breaks are inserted at the same position as in the
code.
Strings are Arrays

Like many other popular programming languages, strings in Python are arrays
of bytes representing unicode characters.

However, Python does not have a character data type, a single character is
simply a string with a length of 1.

Square brackets can be used to access elements of the string.

Example
Get the character at position 1 (remember that the first
character has the position 0):

a = "Hello, World!"
print(a[1])

Looping Through a String

Since strings are arrays, we can loop through the characters in a string, with
a for loop.

Example
Loop through the letters in the word "banana":
for x in "banana":
print(x)
String Length

To get the length of a string, use the len() function.

Example
The len() function returns the length of a string:

a = "Hello, World!"
print(len(a))

Check String

To check if a certain phrase or character is present in a string, we can use the

keyword in.

Example
Check if "free" is present in the following text:
txt = "The best things in life are free!"
print("free" in txt)

• Use it in an if statement:

Example
Print only if "free" is present:
txt = "The best things in life are free!"
if "free" in txt:
print("Yes, 'free' is present.")
Check if NOT

To check if a certain phrase or character is NOT present in a string, we can use

the keyword not in.

Example
Check if "expensive" is NOT present in the following text:
txt = "The best things in life are free!"
print("expensive" not in txt)

• Use it in an if statement:

Example
print only if "expensive" is NOT present:
txt = "The best things in life are free!"
if "expensive" not in txt:
print("No, 'expensive' is NOT present.")
 Python Slicing Strings
Slicing

You can return a range of characters by using the slice syntax.

Specify the start index and the end index, separated by a colon, to return a part
of the string.

Example
Get the characters from position 2 to position 5 (not included):
b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[2:5])

Note: The first character has index 0.

Slice From the Start

By leaving out the start index, the range will start at the first character:

Example
Get the characters from the start to position 5 (not included):
b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[:5])
Slice To the End

By leaving out the end index, the range will go to the end:

Example
Get the characters from position 2, and all the way to the end:
b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[2:])

Negative Indexing

Use negative indexes to start the slice from the end of the string:

Example
Get the characters:
From: "o" in "World!" (position -5)
To, but not included: "d" in "World!" (position -2):

b = "Hello, World!"
print(b[-5:-2])
 Python Modify Strings

Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.

Upper Case
Example
The upper() method returns the string in upper case:
a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.upper())

Lower Case
Example
The lower() method returns the string in lower case:
a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.lower())

Remove Whitespace

Whitespace is the space before and/or after the actual text, and very often you
want to remove this space.

Example
The strip() method removes any whitespace from the beginning
or the end:
a = " Hello, World! "
print(a.strip()) # returns "Hello, World!"
Replace String
Example
The replace() method replaces a string with another string:
a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.replace("H", "J"))

Split String

The split() method returns a list where the text between the specified separator
becomes the list items.

Example
The split() method splits the string into substrings if it finds
instances of the separator:
a = "Hello, World!"
print(a.split(",")) # returns ['Hello', ' World!']
 Python String Concatenation

String Concatenation

To concatenate, or combine, two strings you can use the + operator.

Example

Merge variable a with variable b into variable c:

a = "Hello"
b = "World"
c = a + b
print(c)

Example
To add a space between them, add a " ":
a = "Hello"
b = "World"
c = a + " " + b
print(c)
 Python Format Strings
String Format

As we learned in the Python Variables chapter, we cannot combine strings and

numbers like this:

Example
age = 36
txt = "My name is John, I am " + age
print(txt)

But we can combine strings and numbers by using the format() method!

• The format() method takes the passed arguments, formats them, and places
them in the string where the placeholders {} are:

Example
Use the format() method to insert numbers into strings:
age = 36
txt = "My name is John, and I am {}"
print(txt.format(age))
• The format() method takes unlimited number of arguments, and are placed
into the respective placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49.95
myorder = "I want {} pieces of item {} for {}
dollars."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))

• You can use index numbers {0} to be sure the arguments are placed in the
correct placeholders:

Example
quantity = 3
itemno = 567
price = 49.95
myorder = "I want to pay {2} dollars for {0} pieces of
item {1}."
print(myorder.format(quantity, itemno, price))
 Python Escape Characters
Escape Character

To insert characters that are illegal in a string, use an escape character.

An escape character is a backslash \ followed by the character you want to

insert.

An example of an illegal character is a double quote inside a string that is

surrounded by double quotes:

Example
You will get an error if you use double quotes inside a string
that is surrounded by double quotes:

txt = "We are the so-called "Vikings" from the north."

• To fix this problem, use the escape character \":

Example
The escape character allows you to use double quotes when
you normally would not be allowed:

txt = "We are the so-called \"Vikings\" from the north."

Escape Characters

Other escape characters used in Python:

Code Result

\' Single Quote

\\ Backslash

\n New Line

\r Carriage Return

\t Tab

\b Backspace

\f Form Feed

\ooo Octal value

\xhh Hex value

 Python - String Methods
String Methods

Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on strings.

Note: All string methods return new values. They do not change
the original string.

Method Description

capitalize() Converts the first character to upper case

casefold() Converts string into lower case

center() Returns a centered string

count() Returns the number of times a specified value occurs in a string

encode() Returns an encoded version of the string

endswith() Returns true if the string ends with the specified value

expandtabs() Sets the tab size of the string

find() Searches the string for a specified value and returns the position of
where it was found

format() Formats specified values in a string

format_map() Formats specified values in a string

index() Searches the string for a specified value and returns the position of
where it was found

isalnum() Returns True if all characters in the string are alphanumeric

isalpha() Returns True if all characters in the string are in the alphabet

isdecimal() Returns True if all characters in the string are decimals

isdigit() Returns True if all characters in the string are digits

isidentifier() Returns True if the string is an identifier

islower() Returns True if all characters in the string are lower case

isnumeric() Returns True if all characters in the string are numeric

isprintable() Returns True if all characters in the string are printable

isspace() Returns True if all characters in the string are whitespaces

istitle() Returns True if the string follows the rules of a title

isupper() Returns True if all characters in the string are upper case

join() Joins the elements of an iterable to the end of the string

ljust() Returns a left justified version of the string

lower() Converts a string into lower case

lstrip() Returns a left trim version of the string

maketrans() Returns a translation table to be used in translations

partition() Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three parts

replace() Returns a string where a specified value is replaced with a

specified value

rfind() Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last
position of where it was found

rindex() Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last
position of where it was found

rjust() Returns a right justified version of the string

rpartition() Returns a tuple where the string is parted into three parts

rsplit() Splits the string at the specified separator, and returns a list

rstrip() Returns a right trim version of the string

split() Splits the string at the specified separator, and returns a list
splitlines() Splits the string at line breaks and returns a list

startswith() Returns true if the string starts with the specified value

strip() Returns a trimmed version of the string

swapcase() Swaps cases, lower case becomes upper case and vice versa

title() Converts the first character of each word to upper case

translate() Returns a translated string

upper() Converts a string into upper case

zfill() Fills the string with a specified number of 0 values at the

beginning
 Python - String Exercises
Test Yourself With Exercises

Now you have learned a lot about Strings, and how to use them in Python.

Are you ready for a test?

Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:

Exercise:

Use the len method to print the length of the string.

x = "Hello World"
print( )