How to delete a character from a string using Python

Question

There is a string, for example. EXAMPLE.

How can I remove the middle character, i.e., M from it? I don't need the code. I want to know:

• Do strings in Python end in any special character?
• Which is a better way - shifting everything right to left starting from the middle character OR creation of a new string and not copying the middle character?

Answer 1

To replace a specific position:

s = s[:pos] + s[(pos+1):] 

To replace a specific character:

s = s.replace('M','') 

Answer 2

In Python, strings are immutable, so you have to create a new string. You have a few options of how to create the new string. If you want to remove the 'M' wherever it appears:

newstr = oldstr.replace("M", "") 

If you want to remove the central character:

midlen = len(oldstr) // 2 newstr = oldstr[:midlen] + oldstr[midlen+1:] 

You asked if strings end with a special character. No, you are thinking like a C programmer. In Python, strings are stored with their length, so any byte value, including \0, can appear in a string.