Python Strings – Compare First Character
You can compare the first character of two Python strings, by accessing the first character using index, and then using the Equal-to comparison operator == to compare the characters.
In this tutorial, we will see how to compare the first character in given two strings, with a step by step process, and examples.
Steps to compare first character in the strings in Python
- Given two strings in x and y.
- Get the first character in string x, using the expression x[0]. You may refer How to get first character in Python string tutorial.
- Get the first character in string y, using the expression y[0].
- Compare the two characters using Equal-to comparison operator ==. The expression is x[0] == y[0]. This expression returns True if the first character from the two strings x and y are equal, or False otherwise. You can use this expression as a condition in a Python if else statement.
Program
The complete program to compare the first characters in given two strings is given below.
Python Program
# Given strings
x = "Hello World!"
y = "Hello User!"
# Compare the first character
if x[0] == y[0]:
print(f'The first characters are equal.')
else:
print(f'The first characters are not equal.')
Run Code CopyOutput
The first characters are equal.
Since the first character from the given two strings x and y are "H" and "H" respectively, which are equal, the Equal-to comparison operator returns True, and the if-block executes.
Let us change the string values in x and y and run the program again.
Python Program
# Given strings
x = "Hello World!"
y = "Welcome!"
# Compare the first character
if x[0] == y[0]:
print(f'The first characters are equal.')
else:
print(f'The first characters are not equal.')
Run Code CopyOutput
The first characters are not equal
Since the first character from the given two strings x and y are "H" and "W" respectively, which are not equal, the Equal-to comparison operator returns False, and the else-block executes.
Summary
In this tutorial of Python string tutorials, we learned how to compare the first character from two given strings using Equal-to comparison operator, with step by step process and example programs.