Python:Ascii character<->decimal representation conversion

Question

Hi I need to be able to convert a ascii character into its decimal equivalent and vice-versa.

How can I do that?

Answer 1

You have to use ord() and chr() Built-in Functions of Python. Check the below explanations of those functions from Python Documentation.

ord()

Given a string representing one Unicode character, return an integer representing the Unicode code point of that character. For example, ord('a') returns the integer 97 and ord('€') (Euro sign) returns 8364. This is the inverse of chr().

chr()

Return the string representing a character whose Unicode code point is the integer i. For example, chr(97) returns the string 'a', while chr(8364) returns the string '€'. This is the inverse of ord().

So this is the summary from above explanations,

• ord() is the inverse of chr()
• chr() is the inverse of ord()

Check this quick example get an idea how this inverse work,

>>> ord('H')
72
>>> chr(72)
'H'
>>> chr(72) == chr(ord('H'))
True
>>> ord('H') == ord(chr(72))
True