.find()

The .find() string method takes in a substring (and optionally start/end index), returns the index number of the first occurrence of the substring inside a string. It is case sensitive.

If the substring is not found, returns -1.

Syntax

string.find(substring, start, end)

• substring: The substring to look for.
• start (optional): The starting index of the string to begin the search.
• end (optional): The starting index of the string to end the search.

If start and end index are not specified, it will default to searching the substring in the whole string. So by default, start = 0 and end = len(string).

Example 1

Use .find() without specifying the start and end index:

new_string = "I like to eat potato"

like_result = new_string.find("like")
drink_result = new_string.find("drink")
to_result = new_string.find("to")

print(like_result)   # Output: 2
print(drink_result)  # Output: -1
print(to_result)     # Output: 7

• like is found at index 2 of the new_string string.
• drink is not found in the new_string string, so it’s -1.
• to is found at two places in the new_string string, but .find() returns the first occurrence, instead of the other occurrence at index 18.

Example 2

Use .find() with only the start index specified:

new_string = "I like to eat potato"

like_2_result = new_string.find("like", 2)
like_4_result = new_string.find("like", 4)
to_5_result = new_string.find("to", 5)
to_10_result = new_string.find("to", 10)

print(like_2_result)  # Output: 2
print(like_4_result)  # Output: -1
print(to_5_result)    # Output: 7
print(to_10_result)   # Output: 18

• If index starts on 2 (“l” in “like”), like is found at index 2.
• If index starts on 4 (“k” in “like”), like is not found, so it’s -1.
• If index starts on 5 (“e” in “like”), to is found at two places in the new_string string, but .find() returns the first occurrence, instead of the other occurrence at index 18.
• If index starts on 10 (“e” in “eat”), to is found at index 18.

Codebyte Example

Use .find() with the start and end index specified:

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