Python strings (type str) - review

You've already learned quite a bit about strings. Here's a summary review:

  • In python the string type (str) is used for storing text.
  • You can define strings by enclosing them within either double-quotes or single-quotes.
  • You can get text input from the user with the input() function, which returns a str. 
    name = input("What is your name? ")
print(type(name)))  # outputs <class `str'>
  • You can combine strings for output in multiple ways, such as

    • Pass multiple expressions to print(), separated by commas. In the output, a space is automatically inserted between the strings.

      name = input('What is your name? ')
print('Hello', name, ', I am glad to meet you!')

      Sample output:

      What is your name? Buttercup
Hello Buttercup , I am glad to meet you!

      Notice the unfortunate extra space before the comma!

    • Concatenate using the + operator. This means joining together two strings, one following the other. It gives us complete control over the spaces - you must include any needed spaces.

      name = input("What is your name? ")
print("Hello " + name + ", I'm glad to meet you!")

      Sample output:

      What is your name? Fezzik
Hello Fezzik, I'm glad to meet you!

      Notice that the code above uses double quotes rather than single quotes for each of the strings. This was an intentional choice. The text "I'm glad to meet you" has an apostrophe in it, which is the same character as a single quote. If we try to define that string using a single quote, then python assumes we are ending the string when we reach the single quote. The problem is solved by using double-quotes.

    • Use an f-string (formatted string) to define a string that includes the value of expression(s). Put each expression with a pair of curly braces {}

      name = input("What is your name? ")
print(f"Hello {name}, I'm glad to meet you!")

      Sample output:

      What is your name? Vizzini
Hello Vizzini, I'm glad to meet you!
  • A backslash (\) denotes a special character. This is called escaping. Examples include \n (new line), \t (tab), \\ (backslash), \' (for including single quote within a single-quoted string), \" (for including a double quote within a double-quoted string). This example uses \\ and \n: 
    print('\\n - newline\n\\t - tab')
    outputs 
    \n - newline
\t - tab
    This next example shows two different ways to get single quotes and double quotes within a quoted string: 
    print("I'm telling you, a \"python\" is a snake!")
print('I\'m telling you, a "python" is a snake!')
    Output: 
    I'm telling you, a "python" is a snake!
I'm telling you, a "python" is a snake!