Python Indexing, Space Strip

Two variables with strings are our starting point. To extract characters in specific positions we will use brackets [0], for example, to extract first character.

In Python, and most other programming languages we count from 0, and not from 1, when we talk about positions/indexes.

a = "Double Quotes"
b = 'Single Quotes'

print("First char from a var: ", a[0])
print("First char from b var: ", b[0])

Result:

First char from a var:  D
First char from b var:  S
>>> 

Following same principle, we can get multiple characters, at different positions:

a = "Double Quotes"
b = 'Single Quotes'

print(a[0], a[1], a[2])

print("")

print(b[0], b[1], b[2])

Result:

D o u

S i n
>>> 

We can extract characters in specific range:

print(b[0:7])

Result:

Single 
>>>

Last character in string:

print(b[-1])

Result:

s
>>>

To grab everything, use colons:

print(b[:])

Result:

Single Quotes
>>>

How to Remove Spaces in Strings

If we have a "dirty" string with a lot of unwanted spaces, we can use strip() function:

a = "      Double Quotes"
b = 'Single Quotes         '

print(a.strip())
print(b.strip())

Result:

Double Quotes
Single Quotes
>>>

After we are done, concatenation is possible. Or, some other operation:

a = "      Double Quotes"
b = 'Single Quotes         '

print(a.strip() + " " + b.strip())

Result:

Double Quotes Single Quotes
>>>

Ok, in next tutorial we will play with string length, and how to transform characters (lowercase, uppercase).