Indexing and Slicing Python Strings

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Indexing and Slicing Python Strings

Accessing characters, whether they are single or multiple, is an essential skill for working with strings in any programming language. In Python, we do this by indexing and slicing the string. In this hands-on lab, we'll go through writing some code to demonstrate that we understand how to use indexing and slicing by printing out different pieces of information about a string back to the user. To feel comfortable completing this lab, you'll want to be familiar with the following: * Working with string literals: Watch the "Strings and String Operators" video from the Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer Certification course. * Indexing and slicing strings: Watch the "String Indexing and Slicing" video from the Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer Certification course. * Printing to the screen: Watch the videos from the "Input and Output Operations" section of the Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer Certification course.

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Lab Info

Level

Beginner

Last updated

Sep 18, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Create the string-info.py Script and Take User Input
1. We want to be able to execute our script, so to begin create an empty script named string-info.py with a shebang and make it executable:
  
  $ echo '#!/usr/bin/env python3.7' > string-info.py $ chmod +x string-info.py
2. Create a script that asks for user input, store it as the message variable, and print a handful of lines to the screen. Let's take the user input now.
Challenge

Print the First, Last, and Middle Characters from the User's Input
1. Print the first character from your string.
2. Print the last character from your string.
3. Print the middle characters from a string.
Challenge

Print the Even Index Characters and Odd Index Characters
1. Print the even index characters of your string.
2. Print the odd index characters of your string.
Challenge

Print the String in Reverse
1. Reverse the order of your string and print it.

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