ord() function in Python

In the Python New York user group, someone wanted to know about the ord function in Python. I thought I would write a complete tutorial on this. In this tutorial, I will explain everything about the ord() function in Python with examples.

The ord function in Python is a built-in function that returns the Unicode code point of a given character. Its syntax is simple: ord(character), where character is a single-character string. For example, ord('A') returns 65, the Unicode code point for ‘A’. This function is particularly useful for tasks involving data encoding, text processing, and cryptography.

What is the ord Function in Python?

The ord function in Python is a built-in function that returns the Unicode code point for a given character. This function is particularly useful when you need to convert a character into its corresponding integer representation.

Syntax of the ord Function

The syntax for the ord function is:

ord(character)

• character: A string of a single character whose Unicode code point you want to find.

How Does the ord Function in Python Work?

The ord function takes a single character as an argument and returns an integer representing the Unicode code point of that character. This is useful in various scenarios, such as encoding and decoding data, or when working with character-based data processing.

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Examples of ord() function in Python

Now, let me show you some examples of how the ord function works in Python.

Example 1: Basic Usage

In this example, we’ll convert the character ‘A’ to its Unicode code point.

char = 'A'
unicode_value = ord(char)
print(f"The Unicode code point for '{char}' is {unicode_value}.")

Output:

The Unicode code point for 'A' is 65.

I executed the above Python code using VS code, and you can see the exact output in the screenshot below:

Example 2: Using ord with Special Characters

Let’s see how the ord function handles special characters like ‘@’.

char = '@'
unicode_value = ord(char)
print(f"The Unicode code point for '{char}' is {unicode_value}.")

Output:

The Unicode code point for '@' is 64.

Here is the exact output in the screenshot below:

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Example 3: Convert Lowercase Letters

Here, we’ll convert a lowercase letter ‘z’ to its Unicode code point.

char = 'z'
unicode_value = ord(char)
print(f"The Unicode code point for '{char}' is {unicode_value}.")

Output:

The Unicode code point for 'z' is 122.

Example 4: Using ord with Numeric Characters

The ord function can also be used with numeric characters.

char = '5'
unicode_value = ord(char)
print(f"The Unicode code point for '{char}' is {unicode_value}.")

Output:

The Unicode code point for '5' is 53.

Here is the exact output in the screenshot below:

Conclusion

The ord function in Python is useful for converting characters to their Unicode code points. I explained how to use the ord() function in Python in this tutorial with some examples.

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