Are Python Strings Mutable?

Yes, in Python, strings are mutable, which means they can be changed after they are created. This is in contrast to data types such as integers and floats, which are immutable and cannot be modified once they have been assigned a value.

For example, in Python you can change the value of a string by using the indexing operator to access individual characters in the string and then assigning a new value to that character. Here is an example:

# Initialize a string
my_string = "Hello World"

# Use the indexing operator to access the first character of the string
# and then change its value to "J"
my_string[0] = "J"

# Print the updated string
print(my_string)  # Output: "Jello World"

It is important to keep in mind that when you modify a string in this way, you are actually creating a new string object in memory, rather than modifying the existing string in place. This means that if you have a variable that refers to the original string, that variable will not be updated when you modify the string using the indexing operator.

For example:

# Initialize a string
my_string = "Hello World"

# Create a new variable that refers to the same string
my_string_copy = my_string

# Use the indexing operator to change the value of the first character in the string
my_string[0] = "J"

# Print both variables
print(my_string)        # Output: "Jello World"
print(my_string_copy)   # Output: "Hello World"

In this example, my_string is modified to have the value "Jello World", but my_string_copy still refers to the original string with the value "Hello World". This is because strings in Python are objects, and when you modify a string using the indexing operator, you are creating a new object in memory, rather than modifying the existing object.