Python String translate() Method

How to use Python's translate() method to replace or remove characters in strings using translation tables created with maketrans().

The String translate() method is used to replace specific characters in a string with other characters or remove them altogether. It requires a translation table that maps the characters to be replaced to their replacements.

Note

The translation table can be generated using the maketrans() static method.


## Syntax

```python
my_string.translate(table)

translate() Parameters

Python String translate() method parameters:

Parameter	Condition	Description
`table`	Required	A translation table that maps the characters to be replaced to their replacements.

translate() Return Value

Python String translate() method returns a string where each character is mapped to its corresponding character as per the translation table.

Examples

Example 1: Replacing Characters with maketrans() and translate()

This example demonstrates how to use translate() with a translation table generated by maketrans(). It replaces vowels with digits in the string "tutorialreference".

text = 'tutorialreference'
table = str.maketrans('aeio', '4310')
translated_text = text.translate(table)
print(translated_text) # Output: tut0r14lr3f3r3nc3

output

tut0r14lr3f3r3nc3

Example 2: Removing Characters with maketrans() and translate()

This example shows how to use translate() to remove characters from a string. It removes all vowels from "tutorialreference".

text = "tutorialreference"
vowels = "aeiouAEIOU"
table = str.maketrans("", "", vowels)
translated_text = text.translate(table)
print(translated_text) # Output: "ttrlrfrnc"

output

ttrlrfrnc

Example 3: Replacing Characters with ASCII Mapping with translate()

This example demonstrates replacing characters using an ASCII mapping table directly with translate() method.

This replaces the t, u, r characters with the corresponding uppercase letter.

text = "tutorialreference"
table = {116: 84, 117: 85, 114: 82}
print("The string before translating is: ", text)
print("The string after translating is: ", text.translate(table))

output

The string before translating is:  tutorialreference
The string after translating is:  TUToRialRefeRence

Example 4: Removing Punctuation with maketrans() and translate()

This example removes all punctuation from a string using translate() and a translation table generated by maketrans().

import string

text = "https://tutorialreference.com"
table = str.maketrans("", "", string.punctuation)
translated_text = text.translate(table)
print(translated_text) # Output: httpstutorialreferencecom

output

httpstutorialreferencecom

:::note

string package offers has a predefined string containing all punctuation symbols. You just need to import string package to use it.

import string
print(string.punctuation)

output

!"#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\]^_`{|}~