8.

Iteration: Strings

Topics:

Using Methods from the string class

Iterating through a string with for

 Iterating Through a String
Two problems we cannot easily solve:

1. Given a string s, assign to t the “reversed”

string. ‘abcd’ → ‘dcba’

2. Given a string s, how many digit characters

does it contain? ‘1or2or3’ → 3
The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’
for c in s: t -> ‘dcba’
t = c + t

How does the for loop work?

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2x78y’ s -> ‘2x78y’

n = 0
for c in s:
if [Link](): n -> 3
n=n+1

How does the for loop work?

 Using for to Traverse a String
Character-by-Character

Output:
s = ‘abcd’
a
for c in s: b
Print(c) c
d

In this example, the “for-loop” variable is c. One

at a time, it takes on the value of each character in
s.
 The Reverse String Problem

s = ‘abcd’ s -> ‘abcd’

t = ‘’ ‘’
t ->
for c in s:
t = c + t
Print(t) ‘abcd’
c -> ‘a’

At the start of the loop, c is assigned the zeroth

character in s.
 The Reverse String Problem

s = ‘abcd’ s -> ‘abcd’

t = ‘’
t -> ‘’
for c in s:
t = c + t
Print(t) ‘abcd’
c -> ‘a’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s = ‘abcd’ s -> ‘abcd’

t = ‘’ ‘a’
t ->
for c in s:
t = c + t
Print(t) ‘abcd’
c -> ‘a’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘a’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘b’

The next time through the loop, c is assigned

the first character in s.
 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘a’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘b’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘ba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘b’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘ba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘c’

The next time through the loop, c is assigned

the second character in s.
 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘cba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘c’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s = ‘abcd’ s -> ‘abcd’

t = ‘’ ‘ba’
t ->
for c in s:
t = c + t
Print(t) ‘abcd’
c -> ‘c’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘cba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘d’

The last time through the loop, c is assigned

the third character in s.
 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘cba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘d’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘dcba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
‘abcd’
Print(t)
c -> ‘d’

The loop body is executed using that value in c.

 The Reverse String Problem

s -> ‘abcd’
s = ‘abcd’
t = ‘’ t -> ‘dcba’
for c in s:
t = c + t
Print(t) Output: dcba

The string has been traversed. The iteration ends.

The next statement after the loop is executed.
Indentation important.
 for-loop Mechanics
for <loop variable> in <string>:

Loop Body

If the string has length n, then the loop body is

executed n times.
 for-loop Mechanics
for x in y:

Loop Body

Let x = y[0] and then execute the loop body.

Let x = y[1] and then execute the loop body.
Let x = y[2] and then execute the loop body.
etc
Let x = y[n-1] and then execute the loop body.
Function for Reversing Strings
def Reverse(s):
""" Returns a string that is obtained
from s by reversing the order of its
characters.

Precondition: s is a string."""

t = ‘’ # The empty string

for c in s:
t = c+t # Repeated concatenation
return t
The Number-of-Digits Problem

Given a string s, how many of its

characters are digit characters?

‘a10b20c30d40’ → 8
 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 0
n=n+1
print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘2’

At the start of the loop, x is assigned the zeroth

character in s.
 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 0
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘2’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 1
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘2’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 1
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘z’

The next time through the loop, x is assigned the

first character in s.
 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 1
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘z’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 1
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘7’

The next time through the loop, x is assigned the

second character in s.
 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 1
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘7’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 2
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘7’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 2
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘8’

The next time through the loop, x is assigned

the third character in s.
 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 2
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘8’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 3
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘8’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 3
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘y’

The next time through the loop, x is assigned

the fourth character in s.
 The Number-of-Digits Problem

s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 3
n=n+1
Print(n) ‘2z78y’
x -> ‘y’

The loop body is executed using that value in x.

 The Number-of-Digits Problem
s = ‘2z78y’
n = 0 s -> ‘2z78y’
for x in s:
if [Link](): n -> 3
n=n+1

Print(n) Output:
3

The string has been traversed. The iteration ends.

The next statement after the loop is executed.
Indentation important.
 Function for Counting Digits
def nDigits(s):
""" Returns an int whose value is the
number of digit characters that are in
s.

Precondition: s is a string."""
n = 0;
for c in s:
# Increment n if c is a digit
if [Link]():
n=n+1
return n