Strings in Python

Strings are amongst the most popular types in Python. We can create them simply by enclosing characters in quotes. Python treats single quotes the same as double quotes. Creating strings is as simple as assigning a value to a variable. For example:

var1 = 'Hello World!'

var2 = "Python Programming"

Accessing Values in Strings

Python does not support a character type; these are treated as strings of length one, thus also considered a substring.

To access substrings, use the square brackets for slicing along with the index or indices to obtain your substring. For example:

#!/usr/bin/python

var1 = 'Hello World!'

var2 = "Python Programming"

print "var1[0]: ", var1[0] print "var2[1:5]: ", var2[1:5]

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

var1[0]:     H

var2[1:5]:     ytho

Updating Strings

You can "update" an existing string by (re)assigning a variable to another string. The new value can be related to its previous value or to a completely different string altogether. For example:

#!/usr/bin/python

var1 = 'Hello World!'

print "Updated String :- ", var1[:6] + 'Python'

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

Updated String :-     Hello Python

Escape Characters

Following table is a list of escape or non-printable characters that can be represented with backslash notation.

An escape character gets interpreted; in a single quoted as well as double quoted strings.

Backslash	Hexadecimal	Description
notation	character
\a	0x07	Bell or alert
\b	0x08	Backspace
\cx		Control-x
\C-x		Control-x
\e	0x1b	Escape
\f	0x0c	Formfeed
\M-\C-x		Meta-Control-x
\n	0x0a	Newline
\nnn		Octal notation, where n is in the range 0.7

\r	0x0d	Carriage return
\t	0x09	Tab
\v	0x0b	Vertical tab
\x		Character x
\xnn		Hexadecimal notation, where n is in the range
		0.9, a.f, or A.F

String Special Operators

Assume string variable a holds 'Hello' and variable b holds 'Python', then:

Operator	Description					Example
+	Concatenation - Adds values on either side of					a    +    b    will    give
	the operator					HelloPython
*	Repetition	-	Creates	new	strings,	a*2 will give -HelloHello
	concatenating multiple copies of the same
	string
[]	Slice - Gives the character from the given					a[1] will give e
	index
[ : ]	Range Slice - Gives the characters from the					a[1:4] will give ell
	given range
in	Membership  -  Returns  true  if  a  character					H in a will give 1
	exists in the given string
not in	Membership  -  Returns  true  if  a  character					M not in a will give 1
	does not exist in the given string

r/R	Raw String - Suppresses actual meaning of	print	r'\n' prints	\n
	Escape characters. The syntax for raw strings	and print R'\n'prints \n
	is exactly the same as for normal strings with
	the exception of the raw string operator, the
	letter  "r,"  which  precedes  the  quotation
	marks.  The  "r"  can  be  lowercase  (r)  or
	uppercase   (R)   and   must   be   placed
	immediately preceding the first quote mark.
%	Format - Performs String formatting	See at next section

String Formatting Operator

One of Python's coolest features is the string format operator %. This operator is unique to strings and makes up for the pack of having functions from C's printf() family. Following is a simple example:

#!/usr/bin/python

print "My name is %s and weight is %d kg!" % ('Zara', 21)

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

My name is Zara and weight is 21 kg!

Here is the list of complete set of symbols which can be used along with %:

Format Symbol	Conversion
%c	character
%s	string conversion via str() prior to formatting
%i	signed decimal integer
%d	signed decimal integer
%u	unsigned decimal integer

	%o	octal integer
	%x	hexadecimal integer (lowercase letters)
	%X	hexadecimal integer (UPPERcase letters)
	%e	exponential notation (with lowercase 'e')
	%E	exponential notation (with UPPERcase 'E')
	%f	floating point real number
	%g	the shorter of %f and %e
	%G	the shorter of %f and %E
	Other supported symbols	and functionality are listed in the following table:
	Symbol	Functionality
	*	argument specifies width or precision
	-	left justification
	+	display the sign
	<sp>	leave a blank space before a positive number
	#	add the octal leading zero ( '0' ) or hexadecimal leading '0x'
		or '0X', depending on whether 'x' or 'X' were used.
	0	pad from left with zeros (instead of spaces)
	%	'%%' leaves you with a single literal '%'
	(var)	mapping variable (dictionary arguments)
		80

	Python
m.n.	m is the minimum total width and n is the number of digits
	to display after the decimal point (if appl.)

Triple Quotes

Python's triple quotes comes to the rescue by allowing strings to span multiple lines, including verbatim NEWLINEs, TABs, and any other special characters.

The syntax for triple quotes consists of three consecutive single or double quotes.

#!/usr/bin/python

para_str = """this is a long string that is made up of several lines and non-printable characters such as

TAB ( \t ) and they will show up that way when displayed. NEWLINEs within the string, whether explicitly given like this within the brackets [ \n ], or just a NEWLINE within the variable assignment will also show up.

"""

print para_str;

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result. Note how every single special character has been converted to its printed form, right down to the last NEWLINE at the end of the string between the "up." and closing triple quotes. Also note that NEWLINEs occur either with an explicit carriage return at the end of a line or its escape code (\n):

this is a long string that is made up of

several lines and non-printable characters such as

TAB (	) and they	will show up that way when	displayed.
NEWLINEs	within the	string, whether explicitly	given like

this within the brackets [ ], or just a NEWLINE within

the variable assignment will also show up.

Raw strings do not treat the backslash as a special character at all. Every character you put into a raw string stays the way you wrote it:

#!/usr/bin/python

print 'C:\\nowhere'

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

C:\nowhere

Now let's make use of raw string. We would put expression in r'expression' as follows:

#!/usr/bin/python

print r'C:\\nowhere'

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

C:\\nowhere

Unicode String

Normal strings in Python are stored internally as 8-bit ASCII, while Unicode strings are stored as 16-bit Unicode. This allows for a more varied set of characters, including special characters from most languages in the world. I'll restrict my treatment of Unicode strings to the following:

#!/usr/bin/python

print u'Hello, world!'

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result:

Hello, world!

As you can see, Unicode strings use the prefix u, just as raw strings use the prefix r.

Built-in String Methods

Python includes the following built-in methods to manipulate strings:

Sr. No.	Methods with Description
1	capitalize()
	Capitalizes first letter of string.
2	center(width, fillchar)
	Returns a space-padded string with the original string centered to a total
	of width columns.
3	count(str, beg= 0,end=len(string))
	Counts how many times str occurs in string or in a substring of string if
	starting index beg and ending index end are given.
4	decode(encoding='UTF-8',errors='strict')
	Decodes the string using the codec registered for encoding. encoding
	defaults to the default string encoding.
5	encode(encoding='UTF-8',errors='strict')
	Returns encoded string version of string; on error, default is to raise a
	ValueError unless errors is given with 'ignore' or 'replace'.
6	endswith(suffix, beg=0, end=len(string))
	Determines if string or a substring of string (if starting index beg and
	ending index end are given) ends with suffix; returns true if so and false
	otherwise.
7	expandtabs(tabsize=8)
	Expands tabs in string to multiple spaces; defaults to 8 spaces per tab if
	tabsize not provided.
8	find(str, beg=0 end=len(string))
	Determine if str occurs in string or in a substring of string if starting
	index beg and ending index end are given returns index if found and -1
	otherwise.
9	index(str, beg=0, end=len(string))
	Same as find(), but raises an exception if str not found.

10	isalnum()
	Returns true if string has at least 1 character and all characters are
	alphanumeric and false otherwise.
11	isalpha()
	Returns true if string has at least 1 character and all characters are
	alphabetic and false otherwise.
12	isdigit()
	Returns true if string contains only digits and false otherwise.
13	islower()
	Returns true if string has at least 1 cased character and all cased
	characters are in lowercase and false otherwise.
14	isnumeric()
	Returns true if a unicode string contains only numeric characters and
	false otherwise.
15	isspace()
	Returns true if string contains only whitespace characters and false
	otherwise.
16	istitle()
	Returns true if string is properly "titlecased" and false otherwise.
17	isupper()
	Returns true if string has at least one cased character and all cased
	characters are in uppercase and false otherwise.
18	join(seq)
	Merges (concatenates) the string representations of elements in
	sequence seq into a string, with separator string.
19	len(string)
	Returns the length of the string.
20	ljust(width[, fillchar])
	Returns a space-padded string with the original string left-justified to a
	total of width columns.

21	lower()
	Converts all uppercase letters in string to lowercase.
22	lstrip()
	Removes all leading whitespace in string.
23	maketrans()
	Returns a translation table to be used in translate function.
24	max(str)
	Returns the max alphabetical character from the string str.
25	min(str)
	Returns the min alphabetical character from the string str.
26	replace(old, new [, max])
	Replaces all occurrences of old in string with new or at most max
	occurrences if max given.
27	rfind(str, beg=0,end=len(string))
	Same as find(), but search backwards in string.
28	rindex( str, beg=0, end=len(string))
	Same as index(), but search backwards in string.
29	rjust(width,[, fillchar])
	Returns a space-padded string with the original string right-justified to a
	total of width columns.
30	rstrip()
	Removes all trailing whitespace of string.
31	split(str="", num=string.count(str))
	Splits string according to delimiter str (space if not provided) and
	returns list of substrings; split into at most num substrings if given.
32	splitlines( num=string.count('\n'))
	Splits string at all (or num) NEWLINEs and returns a list of each line with
	NEWLINEs removed.

 

• startswith(str, beg=0,end=len(string)

Determines if string or a substring of string (if starting index beg and ending index end are given) starts with substring str; returns true if so and false otherwise.

• strip([chars])

Performs both lstrip() and rstrip() on string.

• swapcase()

Inverts case for all letters in string.

 

• title()

Returns "titlecased" version of string, that is, all words begin with uppercase and the rest are lowercase.

• translate(table, deletechars="")

Translates string according to translation table str(256 chars), removing those in the del string.

• upper()

Converts lowercase letters in string to uppercase.

• zfill (width)

Returns original string leftpadded with zeros to a total of width characters; intended for numbers, zfill() retains any sign given (less one zero).

• isdecimal() 

Returns true if a unicode string contains only decimal characters and false otherwise.

Let us study them in detail:

1. capitalize() Method

It returns a copy of the string with only its first character capitalized.

Syntax

str.capitalize()

Parameters

NA

Return Value

string

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print "str.capitalize() : ", str.capitalize()

Result

str.capitalize() :     This is string example....wow!!!

2. center(width, fillchar) Method

The method center() returns centered in a string of length width. Padding is done using the specified fillchar. Default filler is a space.

Syntax

str.center(width[, fillchar])

Parameters

• width -- This is the total width of the string.
• fillchar -- This is the filler character.

Return Value

This method returns centered in a string of length width.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print "str.center(40, 'a') : ", str.center(40, 'a')

Result

str.center(40, 'a') :     aaaathis is string example....wow!!!aaaa

3. count(str, beg= 0,end=len(string)) Method

The method count() returns the number of occurrences of substring sub in the range [start, end]. Optional arguments start and end are interpreted as in slice notation.

Syntax

str.count(sub, start= 0,end=len(string))

Parameters

• sub -- This is the substring to be searched.
• start -- Search starts from this index. First character starts from 0 index. By default search starts from 0 index.
• end -- Search ends from this index. First character starts from 0 index. By default search ends at the last index.

Return Value

Centered in a string of length width.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

sub = "i";

print "str.count(sub, 4, 40) : ", str.count(sub, 4, 40) sub = "wow";

print "str.count(sub) : ", str.count(sub)

Result

str.count(sub, 4, 40) :     2

str.count(sub, 4, 40) :     1

4. decode(encoding='UTF-8',errors='strict') Method

The method decode() decodes the string using the codec registered for encoding. It defaults to the default string encoding.

Syntax

str.decode(encoding='UTF-8',errors='strict')

Parameters

• encoding -- This is the encodings to be used. For a list of all encoding schemes please visit: Standard Encodings.
• errors -- This may be given to set a different error handling scheme. The default for errors is 'strict', meaning that encoding errors raise a UnicodeError. Other possible values are 'ignore', 'replace', 'xmlcharrefreplace', 'backslashreplace' and any other name registered via codecs.register_error().

Return Value

Decoded string.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; str = str.encode('base64','strict');

print "Encoded String: " + str;

print "Decoded String: " + str.decode('base64','strict')

Result

Encoded String: dGhpcyBpcyBzdHJpbmcgZXhhbXBsZS4uLi53b3chISE=

Decoded String: this is string example....wow!!!

5. encode(encoding='UTF-8',errors='strict') Method

The method encode() returns an encoded version of the string. Default encoding is the current default string encoding. The errors may be given to set a different error handling scheme.

Syntax

str.encode(encoding='UTF-8',errors='strict')

Parameters

• encoding -- This is the encodings to be used. For a list of all encoding schemes please visit Standard Encodings.
• errors -- This may be given to set a different error handling scheme. The default for errors is 'strict', meaning that encoding errors raise a UnicodeError. Other possible values are 'ignore', 'replace', 'xmlcharrefreplace', 'backslashreplace' and any other name registered via codecs.register_error().

Return Value

Encoded string.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print "Encoded String: " + str.encode('base64','strict')

Result

Encoded String: dGhpcyBpcyBzdHJpbmcgZXhhbXBsZS4uLi53b3chISE=

6. endswith(suffix, beg=0, end=len(string)) Method

It returns True if the string ends with the specified suffix, otherwise return False optionally restricting the matching with the given indices start and end.

Syntax

str.endswith(suffix[, start[, end]])

Parameters

• suffix -- This could be a string or could also be a tuple of suffixes to look for.
• start -- The slice begins from here.
• end -- The slice ends here.

Return Value

TRUE if the string ends with the specified suffix, otherwise FALSE.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

suffix = "wow!!!";

print str.endswith(suffix); print str.endswith(suffix,20);

suffix = "is";

print str.endswith(suffix, 2, 4); print str.endswith(suffix, 2, 6);

Result

True

True

True

False

7. expandtabs(tabsize=8)

It returns a copy of the string in which tab characters ie. '\t' are expanded using spaces, optionally using the given tabsize (default 8).

Syntax

str.expandtabs(tabsize=8)

Parameter

• tabsize -- This specifies the number of characters to be replaced for a tab character '\t'.
• Return Value
• This method returns a copy of the string in which tab characters i.e., '\t' have been expanded using spaces.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is\tstring example....wow!!!";

print "Original string: " + str;

print "Defualt exapanded tab: " + str.expandtabs(); print "Double exapanded tab: " + str.expandtabs(16);

Result

Original string: this is	string example....wow!!!
Defualt exapanded tab: this is string example....wow!!!
Double exapanded tab: this is	string example....wow!!!

 

8. find(str, beg=0 end=len(string))

It determines if string str occurs in string, or in a substring of string if starting index beg and ending index end are given.

Syntax

str.find(str, beg=0 end=len(string))

Parameters

• str -- This specifies the string to be searched.
• beg -- This is the starting index, by default its 0.
• end -- This is the ending index, by default its equal to the lenght of the string.

Return Value

Index if found and -1 otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of find() method. #!/usr/bin/python

str1 = "this is string example....wow!!!"; str2 = "exam";

print str1.find(str2); print str1.find(str2, 10); print str1.find(str2, 40);

Result

15

15

-1

11. 9. index(str, beg=0, end=len(string))

It determines if string str occurs in string or in a substring of string if starting index beg and ending index end are given. This method is same as find(), but raises an exception if sub is not found.

Syntax

str.index(str, beg=0 end=len(string))

Parameters

• str -- This specifies the string to be searched.
• beg -- This is the starting index, by default its 0.
• end -- This is the ending index, by default its equal to the length of the string.

Return Value

Index if found otherwise raises an exception if str is not found.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str1 = "this is string example....wow!!!"; str2 = "exam";

print str1.index(str2); print str1.index(str2, 10); print str1.index(str2, 40);

Result

15

15

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "test.py", line 8, in

print str1.index(str2, 40); ValueError: substring not found

shell returned 1

12. 10. isalnum() Method

It checks whether the string consists of alphanumeric characters.

Syntax

str.isa1num()

Parameters

NA

Return Value

TRUE if all characters in the string are alphanumeric and there is at least one character, FASLE otherwise.

Example

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this2009"; # No space in this string print str.isalnum();

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.isalnum();

Result

True

False

13. 11. isalpha()

Description

The method isalpha() checks whether the string consists of alphabetic characters only.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for islpha() method:

str.isalpha()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all characters in the string are alphabetic and there is at least one character, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isalpha() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this"; # No space & digit in this string print str.isalpha();

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.isalpha();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

True

False

14. 12. isdigit()

Description

The method isdigit() checks whether the string consists of digits only.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for isdigit() method:

str.isdigit()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all characters in the string are digits and there is at least one character, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isdigit() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "123456"; # Only digit in this string print str.isdigit();

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.isdigit();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

True

False

15. 13. islower()

Description

The method islower() checks whether all the case-based characters (letters) of the string are lowercase.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for islower() method:

str.islower()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all cased characters in the string are lowercase and there is at least one cased character, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of islower() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "THIS is string example....wow!!!"; print str.islower();

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.islower();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

False

True

16. 14. isnumeric()

Description

The method isnumeric() checks whether the string consists of only numeric characters. This method is present only on unicode objects.

Note: To define a string as Unicode, one simply prefixes a 'u' to the opening quotation mark of the assignment. Below is the example.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for isnumeric() method:

str.isnumeric()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all characters in the string are numeric, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isnumeric() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = u"this2009";

print str.isnumeric();

str = u"23443434";

print str.isnumeric();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

False

True

17. 15. isspace() Method

Description

The method isspace() checks whether the string consists of whitespace.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for isspace() method:

str.isspace()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if there are only whitespace characters in the string and there is at least one character, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isspace() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str =	"	";
print	str.isspace();

str = "This is string example....wow!!!"; print str.isspace();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

True

False

18. 16. istitle()

Description

The method istitle() checks whether all the case-based characters in the string following non-casebased letters are uppercase and all other case-based characters are lowercase.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for istitle() method:

str.istitle()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if the string is a titlecased string and there is at least one character, for example uppercase characters may only follow uncased characters and lowercase characters only cased ones.It returns false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of istitle() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "This Is String Example...Wow!!!";

print str.istitle();

str = "This is string example....wow!!!"; print str.istitle();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

True

False

19. 17. isupper()

Description

The method isupper() checks whether all the case-based characters (letters) of the string are uppercase.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for isupper() method:

str.isupper()

Parameters

NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all cased characters in the string are uppercase and there is at least one cased character, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isupper() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "THIS IS STRING EXAMPLE....WOW!!!"; print str.isupper();

str = "THIS is string example....wow!!!";

print str.isupper();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

True

False

20. 18. join(seq)

Description

The method join() returns a string in which the string elements of sequence have been joined by str separator.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for join() method:

str.join(sequence)

Parameters

sequence -- This is a sequence of the elements to be joined.

Return Value

This method returns a string, which is the concatenation of the strings in the sequence seq. The separator between elements is the string providing this method.

Example

The following example shows the usage of join() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "-";

seq = ("a", "b", "c"); # This is sequence of strings. print str.join( seq );

When we run above program, it produces following result:

a-b-c

21. 19. len(string)

Description

The method len() returns the length of the string.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for len() method:

len( str )

Parameters

NA

Return Value

This method returns the length of the string.

Example

The following example shows the usage of len() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print "Length of the string: ", len(str);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

Length of the string:     32

22. 20. ljust(width[, fillchar])

Description

The method ljust() returns the string left justified in a string of length width. Padding is done using the specified fillchar (default is a space). The original string is returned if width is less than len(s).

Syntax

Following is the syntax for ljust() method:

str.ljust(width[, fillchar])

Parameters

• width -- This is string length in total after padding.
• fillchar -- This is filler character, default is a space.

Return Value

This method returns the string left justified in a string of length width. Padding is done using the specified fillchar (default is a space). The original string is returned if width is less than len(s).

Example

The following example shows the usage of ljust() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print str.ljust(50, '0');

When we run above program, it produces following result:

this is string example....wow!!!000000000000000000

23. 21. lower()

Description

The method lower() returns a copy of the string in which all case-based characters have been lowercased.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for lower() method:

str.lower()

Parameters

NA

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which all case-based characters have been lowercased.

Example

The following example shows the usage of lower() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "THIS IS STRING EXAMPLE....WOW!!!";

print str.lower();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

this is string example....wow!!!

24. 22. lstrip()

Description

The method lstrip() returns a copy of the string in which all chars have been stripped from the beginning of the string (default whitespace characters).

Syntax

Following is the syntax for lstrip() method:

str.lstrip([chars])

Parameters

chars -- You can supply what chars have to be trimmed.

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which all chars have been stripped from the beginning of the string (default whitespace characters).

Example

The following example shows the usage of lstrip() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = " this is string example....wow!!! "; print str.lstrip();

str = "88888888this is string example....wow!!!8888888"; print str.lstrip('8');

When we run above program, it produces following result:

this	is	string	example....wow!!!
this	is	string	example....wow!!!8888888

23. maketrans()

Description

The method maketrans() returns a translation table that maps each character in the intabstring into the character at the same position in the outtab string. Then this table is passed to the translate() function.

Note: Both intab and outtab must have the same length.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for maketrans() method:

str.maketrans(intab, outtab]);

Parameters

• intab -- This is the string having actual characters.
• outtab -- This is the string having corresponding mapping character.

Return Value

This method returns a translate table to be used translate() function.

Example

The following example shows the usage of maketrans() method. Under this, every vowel in a string is replaced by its vowel position:

#!/usr/bin/pythn

from string import maketrans        # Required to call maketrans function.

intab = "aeiou" outtab = "12345"

trantab = maketrans(intab, outtab)

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.translate(trantab);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

th3s 3s str3ng 2x1mpl2....w4w!!!

26. 24. max(str)

Description

The method max() returns the max alphabetical character from the string str.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for max() method:

max(str)

Parameters

• str -- This is the string from which max alphabetical character needs to be

Return Value

This method returns the max alphabetical character from the string str.

Example

The following example shows the usage of max() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is really a string example....wow!!!"; print "Max character: " + max(str);

str = "this is a string example....wow!!!"; print "Max character: " + max(str);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

Max character: y

Max character: x

27. 25. min(str)

Description

The method min() returns the min alphabetical character from the string str.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for min() method:

min(str)

Parameters

• str -- This is the string from which min alphabetical character needs to be

Return Value

This method returns the max alphabetical character from the string str.

Example

The following example shows the usage of min() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this-is-real-string-example....wow!!!"; print "Min character: " + min(str);

str = "this-is-a-string-example....wow!!!";

print "Min character: " + min(str);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

Min character: !

Min character: !

28. 26. replace(old, new [, max])

Description

The method replace() returns a copy of the string in which the occurrences of old have been replaced with new, optionally restricting the number of replacements to max.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for replace() method:

str.replace(old, new[, max])

Parameters

• old -- This is old substring to be replaced.
• new -- This is new substring, which would replace old substring.
• max -- If this optional argument max is given, only the first count occurrences are replaced.

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string with all occurrences of substring old replaced by new. If the optional argument max is given, only the first count occurrences are replaced.

Example

The following example shows the usage of replace() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!! this is really string";

print str.replace("is", "was");

print str.replace("is", "was", 3);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

thwas	was	string	....example	wow!!!	thwas	was really string
thwas	was	string	example....	wow!!!	thwas	is really string

 

29. 27. rfind(str, beg=0,end=len(string))

Description

The method rfind() returns the last index where the substring str is found, or -1 if no such index exists, optionally restricting the search to string[beg:end].

Syntax

Following is the syntax for rfind() method:

str.rfind(str, beg=0 end=len(string))

Parameters

• str -- This specifies the string to be searched.
• beg -- This is the starting index, by default its 0.
• end -- This is the ending index, by default its equal to the length of the string.

Return Value

This method returns last index if found and -1 otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of rfind() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is really a string example....wow!!!"; str = "is";

print str.rfind(str);

print str.rfind(str, 0, 10); print str.rfind(str, 10, 0);

print str.find(str);

print str.find(str, 0, 10); print str.find(str, 10, 0);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

5

5

-1

2

2

-1

30. 28. rindex(str, beg=0, end=len(string))

Description

The method rindex() returns the last index where the substring str is found, or raises an exception if no such index exists, optionally restricting the search to string[beg:end].

Syntax

Following is the syntax for rindex() method:

str.rindex(str, beg=0 end=len(string))

Parameters

• str -- This specifies the string to be searched.
• beg -- This is the starting index, by default its 0
• len -- This is ending index, by default its equal to the length of the string.

Return Value

This method returns last index if found otherwise raises an exception if str is notfound.

Example

The following example shows the usage of rindex() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str1 = "this is string example....wow!!!"; str2 = "is";

print str1.rindex(str2); print str1.index(str2);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

5

2

31. 29. rjust(width,[, fillchar])

Description

The method rjust() returns the string right justified in a string of length width. Padding is done using the specified fillchar (default is a space). The original string is returned if width is less than len(s).

Syntax

Following is the syntax for rjust() method:

str.rjust(width[, fillchar])

Parameters

• width -- This is the string length in total after padding.
• fillchar -- This is the filler character, default is a space.

Return Value

This method returns the string right justified in a string of length width. Padding is done using the specified fillchar (default is a space). The original string is returned if width is less than len(s).

Example

The following example shows the usage of rjust() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print str.rjust(50, '0');

When we run above program, it produces following result:

000000000000000000this is string example....wow!!!

32. 30. rstrip()

Description

The method rstrip() returns a copy of the string in which all chars have been stripped from the end of the string (default whitespace characters).

Syntax

Following is the syntax for rstrip() method:

str.rstrip([chars])

Parameters

chars -- You can supply what chars have to be trimmed.

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which all chars have been stripped from the end of the string (default whitespace characters).

Example

The following example shows the usage of rstrip() method.

#!/usr/bin/pythn

str = " this is string example....wow!!! "; print str.rstrip();

str = "88888888this is string example....wow!!!8888888"; print str.rstrip('8');

When we run above program, it produces following result:

this is	....stringexample	wow!!!
88888888this	is string example....	wow!!!
33.	31. split(str="", num=string.count(str))

Description

The method split() returns a list of all the words in the string, using str as the separator (splits on all whitespace if left unspecified), optionally limiting the number of splits to num.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for split() method:

str.split(str="", num=string.count(str)).

Parameters

• str -- This is any delimeter, by default it is space.
• num -- this is number of lines to be made.

Return Value

This method returns a list of lines.

Example

The following example shows the usage of split() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "Line1-abcdef \nLine2-abc \nLine4-abcd";

print str.split( );

print str.split(' ', 1 );

When we run above program, it produces following result:

['Line1-abcdef', 'Line2-abc', 'Line4-abcd']

['Line1-abcdef', '\nLine2-abc \nLine4-abcd']

34. 32. splitlines(num=string.count('\n'))

Description

The method splitlines() returns a list with all the lines in string, optionally including the line breaks (if num is supplied and is true)

Syntax

Following is the syntax for splitlines() method:

str.splitlines( num=string.count('\n'))

Parameters

• num -- This is any number, if present then it would be assumed that line breaks need to be included in the lines.

Return Value

This method returns true if found matching string otherwise false.

Example

The following example shows the usage of splitlines() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "Line1-a b c d e f\nLine2- a b c\n\nLine4- a b c d"; print str.splitlines( );

print str.splitlines( 0 ); print str.splitlines( 3 ); print str.splitlines( 4 );

print str.splitlines( 5 );

When we run above program, it produces following result:

['Line1-a b c d e f', 'Line2- a b c', '', 'Line4- a b c d'] ['Line1-a b c d e f', 'Line2- a b c', '', 'Line4- a b c d'] ['Line1-a b c d e f\n', 'Line2- a b c\n', '\n', 'Line4- a b c d'] ['Line1-a b c d e f\n', 'Line2- a b c\n', '\n', 'Line4- a b c d'] ['Line1-a b c d e f\n', 'Line2- a b c\n', '\n', 'Line4- a b c d']

35. 33. startswith(str, beg=0,end=len(string))

Description

The method startswith() checks whether string starts with str, optionally restricting the matching with the given indices start and end.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for startswith() method:

str.startswith(str, beg=0,end=len(string));

Parameters

• str -- This is the string to be checked.
• beg -- This is the optional parameter to set start index of the matching
• end -- This is the optional parameter to set start index of the matching

Return Value

This method returns true if found matching string otherwise false.

Example

The following example shows the usage of startswith() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.startswith( 'this' );

print str.startswith( 'is', 2, 4 ); print str.startswith( 'this', 2, 4 );

When we run above program, it produces following result:

True

True

False

36. 34. strip([chars])

Description

The method strip() returns a copy of the string in which all chars have been stripped from the beginning and the end of the string (default whitespace characters).

Syntax

Following is the syntax for strip() method:

str.strip([chars]);

Parameters

• chars -- The characters to be removed from beginning or end of the string.

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which all chars have been stripped from the beginning and the end of the string.

Example

The following example shows the usage of strip() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "0000000this is string example....wow!!!0000000"; print str.strip( '0' );

When we run above program, it produces following result:

this is string example....wow!!!

37. 35. swapcase()

Description

The method swapcase() returns a copy of the string in which all the case-based characters have had their case swapped.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for swapcase() method:

str.swapcase();

Parameters

NA

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which all the case-based characters have had their case swapped.

Example

The following example shows the usage of swapcase() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.swapcase();

str = "THIS IS STRING EXAMPLE....WOW!!!"; print str.swapcase();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

38. 36. title()

Description

The method title() returns a copy of the string in which first characters of all the words are capitalized.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for title() method:

str.title();

Parameters

NA

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which first characters of all the words are capitalized.

Example

The following example shows the usage of title() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.title();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

This Is String Example....Wow!!!

39. 37. translate(table, deletechars="")

Description

The method translate() returns a copy of the string in which all characters have been translated using table (constructed with the maketrans() function in the string module), optionally deleting all characters found in the string deletechars.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for translate() method:

str.translate(table[, deletechars]);

Parameter

• table -- You can use the maketrans() helper function in the string module to create a translation table.
• deletechars -- The list of characters to be removed from the source string.

Return Value

This method returns a translated copy of the string.

Example

The following example shows the usage of translate() method. Under this every vowel in a string is replaced by its vowel position:

#!/usr/bin/python

from string import maketrans        # Required to call maketrans function.

intab = "aeiou" outtab = "12345"

trantab = maketrans(intab, outtab)

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.translate(trantab);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

th3s 3s str3ng 2x1mpl2....w4w!!!

Following is the example to delete 'x' and 'm' characters from the string:

#!/usr/bin/python

from string import maketrans        # Required to call maketrans function.

intab = "aeiou"

outtab = "12345"

trantab = maketrans(intab, outtab)

str = "this is string example....wow!!!"; print str.translate(trantab, 'xm');

This will produce following result:

th3s 3s str3ng 21pl2....w4w!!!

40. 38. upper()

Description

The method upper() returns a copy of the string in which all case-based characters have been uppercased.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for upper() method:

str.upper()

Parameters

NA

Return Value

This method returns a copy of the string in which all case-based characters have been uppercased.

Example

The following example shows the usage of upper() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print "str.capitalize() : ", str.upper()

When we run above program, it produces following result:

THIS IS STRING EXAMPLE....WOW!!!

41. 39. zfill (width)

Description

The method zfill() pads string on the left with zeros to fill width.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for zfill() method:

str.zfill(width)

Parameters

width -- This is final width of the string. This is the width which we would get after filling zeros.

Return Value

This method returns padded string.

Example

The following example shows the usage of zfill() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = "this is string example....wow!!!";

print str.zfill(40); print str.zfill(50);

When we run above program, it produces following result:

00000000this is string		example....wow!!!
000000000000000000this		is string example....wow!!!
42.	40. isdecimal()

Description

The method isdecimal() checks whether the string consists of only decimal characters. This method are present only on unicode objects.

Note: To define a string as Unicode, one simply prefixes a 'u' to the opening quotation mark of the assignment. Below is the example.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for isdecimal() method:

str.isdecimal()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all characters in the string are decimal, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isdecimal() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = u"this2009"; print str.isdecimal();

str = u"23443434"; print str.isdecimal();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

False

Tru

Description

The method isdecimal() checks whether the string consists of only decimal characters. This method are present only on unicode objects.

Note: To define a string as Unicode, one simply prefixes a 'u' to the opening quotation mark of the assignment. Below is the example.

Syntax

Following is the syntax for isdecimal() method:

str.isdecimal()

Parameters

• NA

Return Value

This method returns true if all characters in the string are decimal, false otherwise.

Example

The following example shows the usage of isdecimal() method.

#!/usr/bin/python

str = u"this2009"; print str.isdecimal();

str = u"23443434"; print str.isdecimal();

When we run above program, it produces following result:

False

True

###########################################################

s="abCD eG"
i=0
n=len(s)
#l=list(s)
s1=""
j=0
while(i<n):
if(s[i].isupper()==True):
print(s[i].lower())
s1=s1+s[i].lower()
elif(s[i].islower()==True):
print(s[i].upper())
#s1=s1+s[i].upper()
else:
s1=s1+s[i]
i=i+1
j=j+1

s=""
for c in s1:
s=s+c

print(s)