How do I modify a single character in a string, in Python?

Question

How do I modify a single character in a string, in Python? Something like:

 a = \"hello\"
 a[2] = \"m\"

\'str\' object does not support ite

Answer 1

In python, string are immutable. If you want to change a single character, you'll have to use slicing:

a = "hello"
a = a[:2] + "m" + a[3:]

Answer 2

Try constructing a list from it. When you pass an iterable into a list constructor, it will turn it into a list (this is a bit of an oversimplification, but usually works).

a = list("hello")
a[2] = m

You can then join it back up with ''.join(a).

Answer 3

It's because strings in python are immutable.

Answer 4

Strings are immutable in Python. You can use a list of characters instead:

a = list("hello")

When you want to display the result use ''.join(a):

a[2] = 'm'
print ''.join(a)