Python replace character in the list | Example code

Use regex to replace characters in the list in Python. The re module in Python provides the sub() and subn() functions that can be used to replace characters in a list using regular expressions.

Example replace character in the list in Python

A simple example code removes multiple characters from a string. Removing “e”, “l’, and “p” char from the given string.

You have to import the re module for this example.

import re

print(re.sub("e|l|p", "", "Hello Python Developers"))

Output:

Or you can iterate over the list and update the desired character at each index. Here’s an example:

def replace_character_in_list(lst, old_char, new_char):
    for i in range(len(lst)):
        if lst[i] == old_char:
            lst[i] = new_char

# Example usage
my_list = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
replace_character_in_list(my_list, 'c', 'x')
print(my_list)  # Output: ['a', 'b', 'x', 'd']

Another example

import re

def replace_character_in_list(lst, pattern, replacement):
    # Convert the list to a string
    string_representation = ''.join(lst)

    # Use re.sub() to replace the characters
    modified_string = re.sub(pattern, replacement, string_representation)
    
    # Convert the modified string back to a list
    modified_list = list(modified_string)
    
    return modified_list

# Example usage
my_list = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']
modified_list = replace_character_in_list(my_list, r'[a-d]', 'x')
print(modified_list)  # Output: ['x', 'x', 'x', 'x']

Comment if you have any doubts or suggestions on this Python char topic.

Note: IDE: PyCharm 2021.3.3 (Community Edition)

Windows 10

Python 3.10.1

All Python Examples are in Python 3, so Maybe its different from python 2 or upgraded versions.