Ways to check if a String in Python Contains all the same Characters

Python is a very commonly used programming language used for different purpose such as web development, data science, machine learning and to perform many different processes with automation. In this article we will learn about different ways to check if a string in python contains all the same characters.

Different Methods to Check if a String in Python Contains All the Same Characters

Set Function

Set will help us to check the similarities in between the strings given as input in the program. This is a very simple method and the output will be displayed as True or False in all the cases. Let's have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand it in a better way: -

Example

def similarity_in_between_characters(input): # The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   return len(set(input)) == 1 # The length should be the same
# Example
print(similarity_in_between_characters("ffffff"))  # Case - 1
print(similarity_in_between_characters("asffcde")) # Case - 2

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

Counter Class

In this method we will count the number of unique characters with the help of collection module and if the count exceeds more than 1 character then the output will be displayed as false. Let's have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand it in a better way: -

Example

from collections import Counter # Do not forget to import the collections library or else error might occur

def similarity_in_between_characters(input):# The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   char_count = Counter(input) # With the help of the counter class, all the characters in the string will be counted
   return len(char_count) == 1 
# Example
print(similarity_in_between_characters("ffffff")) # Case-1 
print(similarity_in_between_characters("asddfc")) # Case-2 

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

Loop Method

In this method each character will be compared with each other one by one as in the form of loop and if any dissimilarity is found then the output will be displayed as false. Let's have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand in a better way: -

Example

def similarity_in_between_characters(input):# The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   first_char = input[0] # The first character is set as a reference character 
   return all(char == first_char for char in input) # With the help of for loop each charatcer in the string is compared with the first character
# Example
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fffff")) # Case-1 
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fdsas")) # Case-2

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

Count Function

In this method, with the help of count function, all the different characters presented in the string are counted for their occurrence. Let's have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand it in a better way: -

Example

def similarity_in_between_characters(input):# The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   first_char = input[0] # The count of the different characters present in the string is done
   return input.count(first_char) == len(input)
# Example
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fffff")) # Case-1 
print(similarity_in_between_characters("asyew")) # Case-2 

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

All Function

With the help of all function, we check if all elements in the string given as input are able to be checked and followed by it with the help of set function we check for the similarity of the characters. Let's have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand it in a better way: -

Example

def similarity_in_between_characters(input):# The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   return all(char == input[0] for char in input) # The all function checks if all the elements in the input are iterable and with the help of set function, we check the similarity of the characters present in the input
# Example
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fffff")) # Case-1
print(similarity_in_between_characters("asdda")) # Case-2

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

Combination of Set & Length Function

This is a very short programming method in which we will use the length function for the purpose of finding the length of the string and with the help of set function we will check the similarity of the characters of the string. Let’s have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand it in a better way: -

Example

def similarity_in_between_characters(input):# The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   return len(set(input)) == 1 # The length of the string is found and then the similarity of the characters is checked and if it remains 1 then the output is given as true
#Example 
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fffff")) # Case-1 
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fsdwa")) # Case-2 

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

Max & Set Function

In this method we use a combination of max & set function in which we first find the unique characters with the help of set function and then with the help of max function, we find the maximum characters in the input given. If the difference between the maximum and minimum characters are zero then the output will be displayed as true. Lets have a look at the syntax followed by an example to understand it in a better way: -

Example

def similarity_in_between_characters(input): # The string is given as input to the function similarity_in_between_characters
   return len(set(input)) == 1 or max(input) == min(input) # The output will be displayed as true if the maximum characters are equal to the minimum characters or else the output will be false
# Example
print(similarity_in_between_characters("fffff")) # Case-1
print(similarity_in_between_characters("asdwd")) # Case-2

Output

The output of the above example will be as follows: -

True # All the characters are same in the first case
False # There are different characters present in the second case

Conclusion

It is necessary to have knowledge about different ways to check if a string in python contains all the same characters to become an efficient programmer. One can refer the above article to learn about the different ways to check the similarities between characters and can use any of them as per convenience.