How to use the slicing operator in Python?

The slice operator is used to slice a string. The slice() function can also be use for the same purpose. We will work around the slice operator with some examples

What is Slicing?

Slicing in Python gets a sub-string from a string. The slicing range is set as parameters i.e. start, stop and step

Syntax

Let us see the syntax

# slicing from index start to index stop-1
arr[start:stop]

# slicing from index start to the end
arr[start:]

# slicing from the beginning to index stop - 1
arr[:stop]

# slicing from the index start to index stop, by skipping step
arr[start:stop:step]

Let us see the syntax

Slice Operator Example

Let us see an example wherein we will slice from start to end, with step, etc

myStr = 'Hello! How are you?'
print("String = ",myStr)

# Slice
print("Slicing from index start to index stop-1 = ",myStr[5:8])
print("Slicing from index start to the end = ",myStr[3:])
print("Slicing from the beginning to index stop - 1 = ",myStr[:5])
print("Slicing from the index start to index stop, by skipping step = ",myStr[5:11:2])

Output

String =  Hello! How are you?
Slicing from index start to index stop-1 =  ! H
Slicing from index start to the end =  lo! How are you?
Slicing from the beginning to index stop - 1 =  Hello
Slicing from the index start to index stop, by skipping step =  !Hw

Slice a string Example

In this example, we will slice a string −

# Create a String
myStr = 'Hello! How are you?'

# Display the String
print("String = ",myStr)

# Slice the string
print("String after slicing = ",myStr[8:11])

Output

String =  Hello! How are you?
String after slicing =  ow 

Slice a string with step Example

The step is used to set the increment between each index for slicing −

# Create a String
myStr = 'Hello! How are you?'

# Display the String
print("String = ",myStr)

# Slice the string with step
print("String after slicing = ",myStr[8:15:2])

Output

String =  Hello! How are you?
String after slicing =  o r 

Slice a Tuple Example

We can slice parts of a tuple −

# Create a Tuple
mytuple = ("Tim", "Mark", "Harry", "Anthony", "Forrest", "Alex", "Rock")

# Display the Tuple
print("Tuple = ",mytuple)

# Slice the Tuple
print("Tuple after slicing = ",mytuple[3:5])

Output

Tuple =  ('Tim', 'Mark', 'Harry', 'Anthony', 'Forrest', 'Alex', 'Rock')
Tuple after slicing =  ('Anthony', 'Forrest')

Slice a Tuple with step Example

We can slice parts of a tuple and also use the step parameter to set the increment between each index for slicing −

# Create a Tuple
mytuple = ("Tim", "Mark", "Harry", "Anthony", "Forrest", "Alex", "Rock", "Paul", "David", "Steve")

# Display the Tuple
print("Tuple = ",mytuple)

# Slice the Tuple with step 2
print("Tuple after slicing = ",mytuple[2:8:2])

Output

Tuple =  ('Tim', 'Mark', 'Harry', 'Anthony', 'Forrest', 'Alex', 'Rock', 'Paul', 'David', 'Steve')
Tuple after slicing =  ('Harry', 'Forrest', 'Rock')

Slice a List Example

# Create a List
myList = ['p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z']

# Display the List
print("List = ",myList)

# Slice the List
print("List after slicing = ",myList[3:6])

Output

List =  ['p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z']
List after slicing =  ['s', 't', 'u']

Slice a List with step Example

We can slice parts of a List and also use the step parameter to set the increment between each index for slicing −

# Create a List
myList = ['p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z']

# Display the List
print("List = ",myList)

# Slice the List with step 2
print("List after slicing = ",myList[3:9:2])

Output

List =  ['p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z']
List after slicing =  ['s', 'u', 'w']