How to Read the Column of a String

In many programming languages a string is a single value usually used to hold text. A string is in contrast to other data types such as an integer, which is only a number, or an array, which is a set of multiple values. In a string a column refers to a particular character. You can pull out a single column or a range of columns from a single string such as the first character or the last five characters in a number of programming languages. In most languages the first character of a string is at position "0" instead of "1" so keep this in mind when counting which column you want to read.

Instructions

1. Type the following command to read the first column in Ruby:

   variable[0]

   Replace "variable" with the variable name that contains the string.

   For example, if

   color = "green"

   then

   color[0] = "g"

2. Type the following code to read the first column of a string in Java:

   stringname.charAt( 0 );

   Replace "stringname" with the name of your string.

3. Type the following command to read the fourth column in Python:

   mystring[3]

   Replace "mystring" with the string's variable name.

   For example, if

   name = "John"

   then

   name[3] = "n"

References

• State University of New York Geneseo: Java Strings
• Ruby on Rails Documentation: String
• Python Documentation: Strings