Strings: working with text

Text values are called strings (a "string of characters"). You've been using them since your first print — now let's actually work with them.

Gluing strings together

The + operator concatenates (joins) strings:

But mixing text and numbers with + fails — Python refuses to guess:

Run it: TypeError. You could convert with str(age)… but there's a much better way.

f-strings: the good way

Put an f before the opening quote, and anything inside {curly braces} gets evaluated and inserted:

f-strings handle numbers, do math right inside the braces, and read almost like the final sentence. From this lesson on, they're our default tool.

Useful string tools

• len(...) — how many characters (spaces count!)
• .upper() / .lower() — SHOUTING / whispering
• .title() — Capitalize Each Word
• .replace(old, new) — swap text

n = 3
print(f"{n} + {n} = {n + n}")

What's next

Numbers ✓ and text ✓. Next comes the third fundamental type — booleans — the True/False values that let programs make decisions.