Strings in Python are immutable meaning you cannot replace parts of them.
You can however create a new string that is modified. Mind that this is not semantically equivalent since other references to the old string will not be updated.
As strings are immutable in Python, just create a new string which includes the value at the desired index.
Assuming you have a string s, perhaps s = "mystring"
You can quickly (and obviously) replace a portion at a desired index by placing it between "slices" of the original.
s = s[:index] + newstring + s[index + 1:]
You can find the middle by dividing your string length by 2 len(s)/2
If you're getting mystery inputs, you should take care to handle indices outside the expected range
def replacer(s, newstring, index, nofail=False):
# raise an error if index is outside of the string
if not nofail and index not in range(len(s)):
raise ValueError("index outside given string")
# if not erroring, but the index is still not in the correct range..
if index < 0: # add it to the beginning
return newstring + s
if index > len(s): # add it to the end
return s + newstring
# insert the new string between "slices" of the original
return s[:index] + newstring + s[index + 1:]
# Use slicing to extract those parts of the original string to be kept
s = s[:position] + replacement + s[position+length_of_replaced:]
# Example: replace 'sat' with 'slept'
text = "The cat sat on the mat"
text = text[:8] + "slept" + text[11:]