Print alternate characters in a String in Python

# Table of Contents

1. Print alternate characters in a String in Python
2. Print alternate characters in a String using enumerate()

# Print alternate characters in a String in Python

Use string slicing to print the alternate characters in a string, e.g. print(string[::2]).

The slice will contain every other character of the original string.

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my_str = 'bobbyhadz'

result = my_str[::2]
print(result)  # 👉️ bbyaz

result = my_str[1::2]
print(result)  # 👉️ obhd

We used string slicing to print the alternate characters in a string.

The syntax for string slicing is my_str[start:stop:step].

The start index is inclusive, whereas the stop index is exclusive (up to, but not including).

The slice my_str[::2] starts at index 0 and goes to the end of the string selecting every second character.

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my_str = 'bobbyhadz'

result = my_str[::2]
print(result)  # 👉️ bbyaz

result = my_str[1::2]
print(result)  # 👉️ obhd

The slice my_str[1::2] starts at index 1 and goes to the end of the string selecting every second character.

# Print alternate characters in a String using enumerate()

A more manual approach would be to use the enumerate() function to get access to the index of the current iteration.

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my_str = 'bobbyhadz'


result = ''

for index, char in enumerate(my_str):
    if index % 2 == 0:
        result += char

print(result)  # 👉️ bbyaz

The enumerate() function takes an iterable and returns an enumerate object containing tuples where the first element is the index and the second is the corresponding item.

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for index, char in enumerate('abc'):
    print(index, char) # 👉️ 0 a, 1 b, 2 c

On each iteration, we use the modulo % operator to check if the remainder of dividing the index by 2 equals 0.

The modulo (%) operator returns the remainder from the division of the first value by the second.

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print(10 % 2)  # 👉️ 0
print(10 % 4)  # 👉️ 2

If the index is an even number, we add the character to a new string.

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my_str = 'bobbyhadz'


result = ''

for index, char in enumerate(my_str):
    if index % 2 == 0:
        result += char

print(result)  # 👉️ bbyaz

The += operator is a shorthand for result = result + char.

Which approach you pick is a matter of personal preference. I'd go with using string slicing as it is quite readable and more concise.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• Replace the Last or Nth occurrence in String in Python