How to replace repeated instances of a character with a single instance of that character in python

Question

I want to replace repeated instances of the \"*\" character within a string with a single instance of \"*\". For example if the string is \"*

Answer 1

Lets assume for this sake of this example, your character is a space.

You can also do it this way:

while True:
    if "  " in pattern: # if two spaces are in the variable pattern
        pattern = pattern.replace("  ", " ") # replace two spaces with one
    else: # otherwise
        break # break from the infinite while loop

This:

File Type                       : Win32 EXE
File Type Extension             : exe
MIME Type                       : application/octet-stream
Machine Type                    : Intel 386 or later, and compatibles
Time Stamp                      : 2017:04:24 09:55:04-04:00

Becomes:

File Type : Win32 EXE
File Type Extension : exe
MIME Type : application/octet-stream
Machine Type : Intel 386 or later, and compatibles
Time Stamp : 2017:04:24 09:55:04-04:00

I find this is a little easier than having to muck around with the re module, which can get a little annoying sometimes (I think).

Hope that was helpful.