Why Strings are Used in Python? [Beginner Tutorial]

Strings in Python enable you to work with textual data, which is fundamental in every programming project, whether it’s for data analysis, web development, or automation.

Think of strings as a collection of text characters, including letters, numbers, symbols, or spaces. Python strings are immutable, this means you cannot update individual characters in a string after creating it.

A string in Python is enclosed within quotes. You can use either single quotes (‘) or double quotes (“), as long as you start and end the string with the same type of quote.

Here’s how you create a string in Python:

String using single quotes

# Create a string with single quotes
message = 'Hello, Codefather!'
print(message)

String using double quotes

# Create a string with double quotes
message = "Hello, Codefather!"
print(message)

In Python, you can also create multiline strings. A multiline string can be created using triple quotes (”’ or “””). Here’s an example using triple double quotes:

multiline_string = """This is a multiline string.
It spans several lines.
You can write as much as you want here."""
print(multiline_string)

And here’s an example using triple single quotes:

multiline_string = '''This is also a multiline string.
It works just like the double-quoted one.
Choose the style that you prefer.'''
print(multiline_string)

Both examples produce the same output, displaying the string on multiple lines. This feature is useful for creating strings containing formatted text or for writing long comments or documentation within your code.

Action step: Before moving to the next section, execute the four examples of code above on your computer to start practicing working with strings.

How to become familiar with strings in a Python program

As a beginner in Python, you can use strings to make your programs interact with users. For instance, you could write a program that asks for the user’s name and then greets them with a personalized message.

Here’s how you would do it:

• First, use the input() function to collect the user’s name and store it in a string variable.
• Then, concatenate that string to other strings to create a greeting message, which you can print using the print() function.

# Ask for the user's name
user_name = input("What is your name? ")

# Create a greeting message
greeting = "Hello, " + user_name + "! Welcome to Python programming."

# Print the personalized greeting
print(greeting)

This use of strings helps you create interactive programs that can respond differently based on the user’s input. This is the first step to making programming feel more engaging and dynamic.

Another practical use of strings for beginners is creating a program that combines different information into a single, formatted message.

Let’s say you are planning a small event and want to generate a message that includes the event’s name, and organizer. Here’s how you can do it:

# Event details
event_name = "Python Workshop"
event_organizer = "CodeFatherTech"

# Combine the details into a message
event_message = "Event: " + event_name + " organized by " + event_organizer + "."

# Print the event information
print(event_message)

The output of the code above is:

Event: Python Workshop organized by CodeFatherTech.

This code snippet demonstrates how you can concatenate (join together) different strings using the + operator to create a single message. This is an example of how strings can organize and present information clearly in your Python programs.

Challenge time: Modify the example of code to add the time of the event to the message using a variable called event_time.

Practicing Common String Operations

In this section, I will help you get familiar with common string operations to strengthen your Python basics.

Get the first character of a string

Use indexing to access the first character of a string. The first character in a string is identified by the index zero.

event_message = "Event: Python Workshop organized by CodeFatherTech."
first_character = event_message[0]
print("The first character is:", first_character)

# The first character is: E

Get the length of a string

To get the length of a string you can use the len() function.

length = len(event_message)
print("The length of the string is:", length)

# The length of the string is: 51

The Importance of String Concatenation with Variables

A natural next step when working with strings is string formatting. String formatting allows you to inject variables into strings in a more flexible and readable way compared to simple concatenation.

Python offers several methods for string formatting, but one of the most convenient and modern approaches is using f-strings, introduced in Python 3.6.

With f-strings, you can embed expressions inside strings using curly braces {}. This method not only makes your code cleaner but also more intuitive.

For example, if you want to create a message that includes a user’s name and their action in a program, you can write:

user_name = "Jake"
action = "completed the Python quiz"

# Create a detailed message using an f-string
detailed_message = f"{user_name} has {action} successfully."

# Print the detailed message
print(detailed_message)

What happens when you execute this code? Test it on your code editor, you should see the following output:

Jake has completed the Python quiz successfully.

This example illustrates how f-strings make string manipulation straightforward and your code more readable.

Learn more about string concatenation in Python.

Learn to Debug Errors in Your Code with Strings

Strings can be helpful for debugging errors in your Python programs. When something goes wrong, you can use strings to print messages that tell you what’s happening in your code. This is a way to see which parts of the code are working and where errors appear.

For example, if you are not sure whether a part of your code is being executed, you can add a print statement with a string message like this:

print("This part of the code has run.")

If you see the message printed out, you know that the specific section of your code is working. If not, you have found a part of your program to investigate further.

You can also use strings to display the values of variables at different points in your program:

speed = 5
print(f"The value of the speed is {speed}.")

# Increase the speed
speed += 10
print(f"The value of the speed is {speed}.")

This can help you track how the data in your program changes as it runs, making it easier to spot errors in the code.

Related article: Continue learning how to use Python strings with variables in your programs.