Reverse a string in Python

Python strings have no reverse() method, but a slice with a step of -1 reads the string from the last character to the first.

The program

text = input("Enter some text: ")
reversed_text = text[::-1]
print(reversed_text)

Typed in this example: Hello, World. Press Run to type your own.

Enter some text: Hello, World
dlroW ,olleH

How it works

• A slice has three parts: text[start:stop:step]. Here start and stop are left empty, so the slice covers the whole string.
• A step of -1 moves backwards, one character at a time. Spaces and punctuation are characters too, so they move as well.
• Strings cannot be changed in place. text[::-1] makes a new string, and text stays the same.

With a loop

This version builds the result one character at a time. Each new character goes in front of what is already there:

text = "Python"
reversed_text = ""

for ch in text:
    reversed_text = ch + reversed_text

print(reversed_text)

nohtyP

Reverse the words, not the letters

To keep each word readable and change only their order, split the text into a list of words, reverse the list, and join it back together:

sentence = "learn it run it fix it"
words = sentence.split()
print(" ".join(reversed(words)))

it fix it run it learn