Python Len (String Length)

Use the len method on strings. Len returns the length of a string, dictionary, list, set or tuple.

Len. All things have lengths. Even our universe, in constant expansion, has a length. In Python though we mostly measure the lengths of strings, lists, collections—not universes.Built-ins

We use len. Often we can optimize performance with len. The number of elements is stored on the object, not calculated, so len is fast.

Strings. Len returns the number of characters in a string. It counts spaces, punctuation, all characters the same. We must be careful with taking the len of a None variable—this fails.Strings

Empty: The second len call tests an empty string. This string has zero characters but is not None.

TypeError: Len relies on the type of the variable passed to it. A NoneType has no len built-in support.

None

Python program that uses len on strings # Has length of 3: value = "cat" print(len(value)) # Has length of 0: value = "" print(len(value)) # Causes TypeError: value = None print(len(value)) Output 3 0 Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\programs\file.py", line 13, in <module> print(len(value)) TypeError: object of type 'NoneType' has no len()

Collections. The len built-in returns the number of elements in a collection. For a collection with nested, sub-collections, counting is shallow: not all nested elements are considered.

Dictionary: For the dictionary, each pair is counted as one unit. Keys and values are not independent.

Dictionary

Python program that uses len, collections # Get length of list with len. elements = [1, 2, 3] print(len(elements)) # Get length of tuple. items = ("cat", "dog", "bird", "shark") print(len(items)) # Length of example set (key count). set = {100, 200, 300} print(len(set)) # Length of dictionary (pair count). lookup = {"cat" : 4, "centipede" : 100} print(len(lookup)) Output 3 4 3 2

Nested lists. Let us revisit nested collections. A collection itself is an element, so it counts just one time. The len built-in does not recurse. It does not even loop. It is simple.Recursion

So: We must do those things (recurse, loop) with custom code. We can test sub-elements and use len on them.

List

Python program that uses len on nested list # A nested list: list = [1, 2, [4, 5]] # Shallow count of elements. print(len(list)) print(len(list[2])) Output 3 2

Error. We cannot just take the len of any variable. This program attempts to take the length of an int variable. And it fails, miserably, with a TypeError that ends its operation.

Note: Conceptually len() counts countable units: chars in a string, elements in a list. A number has digits, but no other "units."

Numbers

Python program that causes error, len on int value = 100 # Cannot take length of int: length = len(value) Output Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\programs\file.py", line 6, in <module> length = len(value) TypeError: object of type 'int' has no len()

Performance. The len of collections and strings is stored as a number in memory. It is not computed, as in a loop, each time it is accessed. For this reason, len is much faster than a loop.

Version 1: In this version of the code, we access the length of a string with len in a loop. This is timed.

Version 2: We test a for-loop version. The end result is the same (each character is counted).

Result: It is many times faster to access len. The for-loop is useful only when counting chars, where their values matter.

Python program that times len, char counting import time value = "characters" print(time.time()) # Version 1: len for i in range(0, 1000000): length = len(value) if length != 10: raise Exception() print(time.time()) # Version 2: count chars for i in range(0, 1000000): length = 0 for c in value: length += 1 if length != 10: raise Exception() print(time.time()) Output 1406752804.325871 1406752804.606887 len = 0.281 s 1406752806.05097 for-loop = 1.444 s

A summary. A length cannot be negative. So we can use len as a loop boundary: this is a convenient way to loop over a list. But when not needed, avoiding len is ideal.

Loop suggestion. Consider a for-in loop to avoid using len. This loop construct will enumerate each element in a collection. No indexes are needed.

The Dev Codes

.Net

.NET Array Dictionary List String 2D Async DataTable Dates DateTime Enum File For Foreach Format IEnumerable If IndexOf Lambda LINQ Parse Path Process Property Regex Replace Sort Split Static StringBuilder Substring Switch Tuple

Java

Core Array ArrayList HashMap String 2D Cast Character Console Deque Duplicates File For Format HashSet If IndexOf Lambda Math ParseInt Process Random Regex Replace Sort Split StringBuilder Substring Switch Vector While

TheDeveloperBlog.com

Python Len (String Length)

Related Links:

.Net

Java

Related Links