How to get a sub-string from a string in Python

In python, you can index a string like a list. The first character is considered as index 0. Using this indexing technique we can slice to get a sub-string from a string. Here are few of the slicing techniques we can use to get sub-string.

string[: to_char]             --> From starting to few characters
string[-number_of_char :]     --> From last few characters
string[after_char :]          --> From a specific character to the end
string[after_char : to_char]  --> From a specific character to another in-between the string

Let’s see how to get the sub string with examples.

From starting to few characters

If you want the sub-string form the beginning of a string till certain character, use the slicing technique string[: to_char]. For example, to get the first two characters of a string as a sub string then use string[:2]. Here is a example.

# Initiate a string
a_string = "My Tec Bits"

# slice
sub_string = a_string[:2]

print(sub_string)

Output

My

From last few characters

To get the last few characters of a string then use the slicing technique string[-number_of_char :]. For example, if you want to get the last 4 characters of a string as a substring then use string[-4:]. Here is a example.

# Initiate a string
a_string = "My Tec Bits"

# slice
sub_string = a_string[-4:]

print(sub_string)

Output

Bits

From a specific character to the end

To get the last few characters of a string after a specific character then use the slicing technique string[after_char :]. For example, if you want to get a sub-string starting after the 4th char of the string to the end then use string[4:]. This will give a substring from the fifth character to the end. Here is a example.

# Initiate a string
a_string = "My Tec Bits"

# slice
sub_string = a_string[4:]

print(sub_string)

Output

ec Bits

From a specific character to another in-between the string

To get a sub-string from a string after a specific character to another specific character use the slicing technique string[after_char : to_char]. For example, if you want to get a sub-string starting after the 4th char of the string to the 9th char then use string[4:9]. Here is a example.

# Initiate a string
a_string = "My Tec Bits"

# slice
sub_string = a_string[4:9]

print(sub_string)

Output

ec Bi

More Tips

• Checking and parsing a string to float in Python.

Reference

• More about string slicing in Python docs.