How do you insert symbols in python?

In a Python programming language, the strings are immutable. Immutable means that you cannot change the string once it is defined. There are several different restrictions when one needs to manipulate a string in Python. Whenever you need to modify a string in Python, you either need to replicate it or reconstruct the list. This article is all about how to insert or add the characters into strings. Here, we will learn different ways to insert a character into a string with the help of a few examples.

Example 1:

In this example, we will provide you with a code that demonstrates the function of the list slicing to insert a character into a string. In the list slicing method, a list is sliced into two parts by splitting the required position and combining it back together after inserting the characters into it. First, see the following given code:

As you can see in the code, a string is first defined as “original_string = Ioriginal”. This is the string that needs to be modified. In other words, it is the string where the characters are added.

Another string or a set of characters is defined as “add_character = am”. It is the string or set of characters that are added in the “original_string”.

A variable “slice = 1” is defined which represents the position at which the “original_string” is to be sliced. After that, the string is sliced into two parts using the list slicing method: original_string[ : slice] + add_character + original_string[slice : ]. This statement splits the string into two parts, adds the new characters where it is specified, and joins the modified string back together. A complete program code is attached in the following:

original_string = 'Ioriginal'
add_character = " am "
print("The original string is: " + original_string)
print("Characters to be added are: " + add_character)
slice = 1  
new = original_string[ : slice] + add_character + original_string[slice : ]
print("The string after inserting characters: " + str(new))

Here is the result of the previously given code. You can see that the string “am” is inserted in the original string “Ioriginal”. And the updated string is displayed in the final line of the output.

Note that space is added with “am” like this – “ am “ – which is why it is visible in the resultant string.

Example 2:

The next method of inserting the characters into a string is using a combination of a list(), insert(), and join() built-in functions of Python. By using this combination, we can convert the string into a list with the list() function and add the string at the targeted position with the insert() function. Then, we apply the join() function to combine the string back together again. Understand the following code to see how this concept is implemented.

As you might notice, we used the same example as defined in the first example. Here, the one statement of the list slicing method is replaced with three statements containing the list(), insert(), and join() functions. The list() function is used to convert the string into the list. The insert() function is used to insert the required string or set of characters into the string. The join() function is used to join the string back together.

original_string = 'Ioriginal'

add_character = " am "

print("The original string is: " + original_string)

print("Characters to be added are: " + add_character)

slice = 1

new = list(original_string)

new.insert(slice, add_character)

new = ''.join(new)

print("The string after inserting characters: " + str(new))

Let us see the following output. Note that the output is similar to the former example:

Example 3:

In this example, we are going to learn the string format method to insert a character into the string. This is a very simple and easy-to-use method to add the characters to the string. The string format method simply creates a new string with newly inserted characters. Let us see the following code to learn the easiest method to modify a string.

This is just a two-line code. In the first line, the characters that need to be added to the string are defined. In the second line of code, the format() function is used to create a new modified string and the formatted string is printed. Note that there are curly braces in the string. These braces represent the position at which the characters need to be added.

add_character = " am "

print("I{}original".format(add_character))

Here is the output of the previous code:

Example 4:

You can add more than one character in more than one place using the format() method. Let’s see an example on how to insert the different characters at different places.

Note that a string is assigned to a new variable and the additional braces are added to the string where the second string needs to be added.

add_character = " am "

add_character2 = " string."

print("I{}original{}".format(add_character, add_character2))

Now, let us see the output of the previous code. As you can see, both the strings are inserted into the original string and a new modified string is returned.

Example 5:

This is another simple method of inserting the characters into a string – the formatted string literal f-string function. First, see the following code. Then, we will explain how the f-string function works.

The “f” at the beginning of the string is provided so that Python will allow all the valid variable names in the string.

add_character = " am "

add_character2 = " string."

print(f"I{add_character}original{add_character2}")

See the following output:

Example 6:

This example will help you learn how to insert the characters into string using the %formatting function. The %formatting function is similar to the string formatting function. However, it is quite less flexible as compared to all the methods defined previously. Here is how you can use the %formatting to add a set of characters into a string:

add_character = " am "

add_character2 = " string."

print("I%soriginal%s" % (add_character, add_character2))

The output of the previous program is as follows:

Conclusion

In this article, we explained some different methods to insert the characters into the string. We have seen the list slicing method, a combination of the list(), join(), and insert() method, format() method, f-string method, and finally the %formatting method. We explained every method in detail with the help of some examples.