Character exist at -1 index of a string

Question

str1 = "hello"
print(str1[-1])

The output of the program is o, but, shouldn't it give error as an output, as nothing exist at -1 index?

Strings, as sequences, can be indexed with negative numbers. `-1` signaling the last element, `-2` the second from last on so on. See the section on [Strings](https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/introduction.html#strings) in the Python Tutorial. — Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard, Nov 17 '16 at 12:33

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 17 '16 at 12:33

Negative indices in Python means they are relative to the end of the sequence. Which means -1 will give you the last, and -2 the second last, etc.

Or, if you prefer, you can think of the string as circular:

  -3-2-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
...l l o h e l l o h e...

1 Answers1