Convert alphabet letters to number in Python

Question

How can the following be finished?

characters = [\'a\'\'b\'\'c\'\'d\'\'e\'\'f\'\'g\'\'h\'\'i\'\'j\'\'k\'\'l\'\'m\'\'n\'\'o\'\'p\'\'q\'\'r\'\'t\'\'u\'\'v\'\'w         


        

Answer 1

This is a function I used to use for this purpose. Works for both uppercase and lowercase.

def convert_char(old):
    if len(old) != 1:
        return 0
    new = ord(old)
    if 65 <= new <= 90:
        # Upper case letter
        return new - 64
    elif 97 <= new <= 122:
        # Lower case letter
        return new - 96
    # Unrecognized character
    return 0