Python: More Fun with Strings - Working with String Methods (Page 2 of 5 )
There are many built-in string methods in Python. We will cover a few of them here, and all of them in a future article.
A method saves the programmer from having to program the same code over and over again. Instead of typing a bunch of code to say, count the number of a's in a string, all the programmer has to do is call the appropriate method. In the following example, we are going to find out how many times each vowel appears in a string. Type the following into your python shell command prompt:
book='It was a dark and stormy night, the wind blowing through the trees, and somewhere, out there in the far off teinkling of city lights, Britney Spears was busy being a bad mother...'
book.count('a')
book.count('e')
book.count('i')
book.count('o')
book.count('u')
book.count('y')
The method will count each of the vowels and return a result, like the one below:
>>> book.count('a')
10
>>> book.count('e')
15
>>> book.count('i')
10
>>> book.count('o')
8
>>> book.count('u')
3
>>> book.count('y')
4
We can also count words within the document, like so:
>>> book.count('the')
5
>>> book.count('and')
2
>>> book.count('was')
2
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