Industrial Training




Basic Operations


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 notation
Hexadecimal character
Description
\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
\s 0x20 Space
\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 the operator a + b will give HelloPython
* Repetition - Creates new strings, concatenating multiple copies of the same string a*2 will give -HelloHello
[] Slice - Gives the character from the given index a[1] will give e
[ : ] Range Slice - Gives the characters from the given range a[1:4] will give ell
in Membership - Returns true if a character exists in the given string H in a will give 1
not in Membership - Returns true if a character does not exist in the given string M not in a will give 1
r/R Raw String - Suppresses actual meaning of Escape characters. The syntax for raw strings 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. print r'\n' prints \n and print R'\n'prints \n
% 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)
m.n. m is the minimum total width and n is the number of digits to display after the decimal point (if appl.)

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!





Hi I am Pluto.