Unlike other languages such as Ruby, there is no built-in method to reverse a string in Python. Here are two possible ways to accomplish that:
1) The 'Long' Way
This approach uses a for-loop with the join method to reverse a string:
def rev(s):
return ''.join([s[i] for i in range(len(s)-1,-1,-1)])
>>> print rev("abcde")
edcba
return ''.join([s[i] for i in range(len(s)-1,-1,-1)])
>>> print rev("abcde")
edcba
2) The Simpler Way
This approach uses Python's 'slice notation' to accomplish the same result:
def rev(s):
return s[::-1]
>>> print rev("abcde")
edcba
return s[::-1]
>>> print rev("abcde")
edcba
I think I read somewhere that #1 (for-loop) is faster, but I do love the simplicity of slicing. It looks a little strange at first, if you're not used to Python. But it really is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it.