Python Casting
Specify a Variable Type
There may be times when you want to specify a type on to a variable. This can be done
with casting. Python is an object-orientated language, and as such it uses classes to
define data types, including its primitive types.
Casting in python is therefore done using constructor functions:
int() - constructs an integer number from an integer literal, a float literal (by
removing all decimals), or a string literal (providing the string represents a whole
number)
float() - constructs a float number from an integer literal, a float literal or a string
literal (providing the string represents a float or an integer)
str() - constructs a string from a wide variety of data types, including strings,
integer literals and float literals
ExampleGet your own Python Server
Integers:
x = int(1) # x will be 1
y = int(2.8) # y will be 2
z = int("3") # z will be 3
Example
Floats:
x = float(1) # x will be 1.0
y = float(2.8) # y will be 2.8
z = float("3") # z will be 3.0
w = float("4.2") # w will be 4.2
Example
Strings:
x = str("s1") # x will be 's1'
y = str(2) # y will be '2'
z = str(3.0) # z will be '3.0'
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:
ExampleGet your own Python Server
print("Hello")
print('Hello')
Quotes Inside Quotes
You can use quotes inside a string, as long as they don't match the quotes surrounding
the string:
Example
print("It's alright")
print("He is called 'Johnny'")
print('He is called "Johnny"')
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)
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.
ExampleGet your own Python Server
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])
REMOVE ADS
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
ExampleGet your own Python Server
The upper() method returns the string in upper case:
a = "Hello, World!"
print([Link]())
Lower Case
Example
The lower() method returns the string in lower case:
a = "Hello, World!"
print([Link]())
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([Link]()) # returns "Hello, World!"
REMOVE ADS
Replace String
Example
The replace() method replaces a string with another string:
a = "Hello, World!"
print([Link]("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([Link](",")) # returns ['Hello', ' World!']
Python - String Concatenation
String Concatenation
To concatenate, or combine, two strings you can use the + operator.
ExampleGet your own Python Server
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:
ExampleGet your own Python Server
age = 36
#This will produce an error:
txt = "My name is John, I am " + age
print(txt)
But we can combine strings and numbers by using f-strings or the format() method!
F-Strings
F-String was introduced in Python 3.6, and is now the preferred way of formatting
strings.
To specify a string as an f-string, simply put an f in front of the string literal, and add
curly brackets {} as placeholders for variables and other operations.
Example
Create an f-string:
age = 36
txt = f"My name is John, I am {age}"
print(txt)
Placeholders and Modifiers
A placeholder can contain variables, operations, functions, and modifiers to format the
value.
Example
Add a placeholder for the price variable:
price = 59
txt = f"The price is {price} dollars"
print(txt)
A placeholder can include a modifier to format the value.
A modifier is included by adding a colon : followed by a legal formatting type,
like .2f which means fixed point number with 2 decimals:
Example
Display the price with 2 decimals:
price = 59
txt = f"The price is {price:.2f} dollars"
print(txt)
A placeholder can contain Python code, like math operations:
Example
Perform a math operation in the placeholder, and return the result:
txt = f"The price is {20 * 59} dollars"
print(txt)
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:
ExampleGet your own Python Server
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 w
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 w
isalnum() Returns True if all characters in the string are alphanumeric
isalpha() Returns True if all characters in the string are in the alphabet
isascii() Returns True if all characters in the string are ascii characters
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
found
rindex() Searches the string for a specified value and returns the last position of where
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