How to Slice Strings in Python

See Python: Tips and Tricks for similar articles.

In Python, when you need to get a sequence of characters from a string (i.e., a substring), you get a slice of the string using the following syntax:

substring = original_string[first_pos:last_pos]

When slicing in Python, note that:

  1. The slice begins with the character at first_pos and includes all the characters up to but not including the character at last_pos.
  2. If first_pos is left out, then it is assumed to be 0. So "hello"[:3] would return "hel".
  3. If last_pos is left out, then it is assumed to be the length of the string, or in other words, one more than the last position of the string. So "hello"[3:] would return "lo".

The following code shows how to get substrings using slicing.

phrase = "Monty Python"

first_5_letters = phrase[0:5]
#[Monty] Python
print(first_5_letters)

letters_2_thru_4 = phrase[1:4]
#M[ont]y Python
print(letters_2_thru_4)

letter_5_to_end = phrase[4:]
#Mont[y Python]
print(letter_5_to_end)

last_3_letters = phrase[-3:]
#Monty Pyt[hon]
print(last_3_letters)

first_3_letters = phrase[:3]
#[Mon]ty Python
print(first_3_letters)

three_letters_before_last = phrase[-4:-1]
#Monty Py[tho]n
print(three_letters_before_last)

copy_of_string = phrase[:]
#[Monty Python]
print(copy_of_string)

The expected output for each print statement is shown in square brackets in the preceding comment.

Related Articles

  1. Fixing WebVTT Times with Python
  2. Using Python to Convert Images to WEBP
  3. Scientific Notation in Python
  4. Understanding Python’s __main__ variable
  5. Converting Leading Tabs to Spaces with Python
  6. pow(x, y, z) more efficient than x**y % z and other options
  7. A Python Model for Ping Pong Matches
  8. Bulk Convert Python files to IPython Notebook Files (py to ipynb conversion)
  9. Python’s date.strftime() slower than str(), split, unpack, and concatenate?
  10. Basic Python Programming Exercise: A Penny Doubled Every Day
  11. Bi-directional Dictionary in Python
  12. How to find all your Python installations on Windows (and Mac)
  13. Associate Python Files with IDLE
  14. Change Default autosave Interval in JupyterLab
  15. Python: isdigit() vs. isdecimal()
  16. Python Clocks Explained
  17. Python Color Constants Module
  18. Maximum recursion depth exceeded while calling a Python object
  19. When to use Static Methods in Python? Never
  20. Finally, a use case for finally – Python Exception Handling
  21. Creating an Email Decorator with Python and AWS
  22. Python Coding Challenge: Two People with the Same Birthday
  23. How to Create a Simple Simulation in Python – Numeric Data
  24. Collatz Conjecture in Python
  25. Simple Python Script for Extracting Text from an SRT File
  26. Python Virtual Environments with venv
  27. Mapping python to Python 3 on Your Mac
  28. How to Make IDLE the Default Editor for Python Files on Windows
  29. How to Do Ternary Operator Assignment in Python
  30. How to Convert Seconds to Years with Python
  31. How to Create a Python Package
  32. How to Read a File with Python
  33. How to Check the Operating System with Python
  34. How to Use enumerate() to Print a Numbered List in Python
  35. How to Repeatedly Append to a String in Python
  36. Checking your Sitemap for Broken Links with Python
  37. How to do Simultaneous Assignment in Python
  38. Visual Studio Code - Opening Files with Python open()
  39. How to Slice Strings in Python (this article)
  40. How Python Finds Imported Modules
  41. How to Merge Dictionaries in Python
  42. How to Index Strings in Python
  43. How to Create a Tuple in Python