Changing one character in a string

Question

What is the easiest way in Python to replace a character in a string?

For example:

text = \"abcdefg\";
text[1] = \"Z\";
           ^

Answer 1

Like other people have said, generally Python strings are supposed to be immutable.

However, if you are using CPython, the implementation at python.org, it is possible to use ctypes to modify the string structure in memory.

Here is an example where I use the technique to clear a string.

Mark data as sensitive in python

I mention this for the sake of completeness, and this should be your last resort as it is hackish.