String Literal

A string literal is a sequence of characters. In Python, this type is called str. Strings in Python start and end with a single quotes (') or double quotes ("). A string can be made up of letters, numbers, and special characters. For example:

>>> 'hello'
'hello'
>>> 'how are you?'
'how are you?'
>>> 'short- and long-term'
'short- and long-term'

If a string begins with a single quote, it must end with a single quote. The same applies to double-quoted strings. You can not mix the type of quotes.

Escape Sequences

To include a quote within a string, use an escape character (\) before it. Otherwise Python interprets that quote as the end of a string and an error occurs. For example, the following code results in an error because Python does not expect anything to come after the second quote:

>>> storm_greeting = 'wow, you're dripping wet.'
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

The escape sequence \' indicates that the second quote is simply a quote, not the end of the string:

>>> storm_greeting = 'Wow, you\'re dripping wet.'
"Wow, you're dripping wet."

An alternative approach is to use a double-quoted string when including a single-quote within it, or vice-versa. Single- and double-quoted strings are equivalent. For example, when we used double-quotes to indicate the beginning and end of the string, the single-quote in you're no longer causes an error:

>>> storm_greeting = "Wow, you're dripping wet."
"Wow, you're dripping wet."

String Operators

Expression	Description	Example	Output
str1 + str2	concatenate str1 and str1	print('ab' + 'c')	abc
str1 * int1	concatenate int1 copies of str1	print('a' * 5)	aaaaa
int1 * str1	concatenate int1 copies of str1	print(4 * 'bc')	bcbcbcbc

Note: concatenate means to join together

The * and + operands obey by the standard precedence rules when used with strings.

All other mathematical operators and operands result in a TypeError.