The replace() function in python helps to return a copy of the original string after replacing the 'old' substring with the 'new' substring. The function also allows specifying the number of times the old string needs to replace.
str.replace(old, new [, count]) #where old & new are strings
The replace() function takes three parameters. If the count parameter is not given, the replace() method will replace all the old substring with the new substring. The replace() method can also use with numbers and symbols.
Parameter | Description | Required / Optional |
---|---|---|
old | old substring you want to replace | Required |
new | new substring which will replace the old substring | Optional |
count | the number of times you want to replace the old substring with the new substring | Optional |
The return value is always a new string after the replacement. This method performs a case-sensitive search. If the specified old string is not found it will return the original string.
Input | Return Value |
---|---|
string | string (old replaced with new) |
string = 'Hii,Hii how are you'
# replacing 'Hii' with 'friends'
print(string.replace('Hii', 'friends'))
string = 'Hii, Hii how are you, Hii how are you, Hii'
# replacing only two occurences of 'Hii'
print(string.replace('Hii', "friends", 2))
Output:
friends,friends how are you Hii, friends how are you, friends how are you, Hii
string = 'Hii,Hii how are you'
# returns copy of the original string because of count zero
print(string.replace('Hii', 'friends',0))
string = 'Hii, Hii how are you, Hii how are you, Hii'
# returns copy of the original string because old string not found
print(string.replace('fine', "friends", 2))
Output:
Hii,Hii how are you Hii, Hii how are you, Hii how are you, Hii