Strings

Strings

In this tutorial, we'll represent and work with text.

A string is text. In Python, strings are written inside quotes:

name = "Ada"
message = 'Hello'

Single quotes and double quotes both work. The important thing is that the opening and closing quotes match.

What Strings Are Used For

Strings are used for names, messages, email addresses, labels, passwords, file paths, and any other text.

first_name = "Grace"
last_name = "Hopper"

print(first_name)
print(last_name)

Joining Strings

You can join strings with +:

first_name = "Grace"
last_name = "Hopper"
full_name = first_name + " " + last_name

print(full_name)

Output:

Grace Hopper

The " " is a string containing one space. Without it, the names would run together.

String Methods

Strings come with useful methods. A method is an action attached to a value.

word = "python"

print(word.upper())
print(word.capitalize())
print(word.count("p"))

Output:

PYTHON
Python
1

The original string does not change unless you store the result:

word = "python"
word = word.upper()
print(word)

Indexing Strings

Each character has a position. Python starts counting at 0.

word = "code"

print(word[0])
print(word[1])

Output:

c
o

Common Mistake

Numbers inside quotes are strings:

age = "12"
print(age + age)

Output:

1212

Python joins the text. It does not add the number. To do maths, convert it with int() first.

Practice

Create a variable for your full name. Print it normally, in uppercase, and print how many characters it contains using len().