Character Set of Python

Character Set of Python

A character set is a collection of characters that can be used to write a program and represent data. In Python, these characters are combined to form meaningful elements of a program, such as keywords, identifiers, operators, and literals.

Main Categories of the Python Character Set

Category	Examples
1. Letters (Alphabets)	A–Z, a–z
2. Digits	0–9
3. Special Symbols	+, -, *, /, =, <, >, (), [], {}, :, ,
4. White Spaces	Space, Tab, Newline, Carriage Return
5. Unicode Characters	Marathi , Hindi, Chinese, Greek, emojis, currency symbols

1. Letters (Alphabets)

Python recognizes both uppercase and lowercase English alphabets:

• •      Uppercase letters: A to Z
• •      Lowercase letters: a to z

Python is case-sensitive. This means uppercase and lowercase letters are treated as different characters.

For example, the names “age” and “Age” are different identifiers.

2. Digits

Python uses the standard digits 0 to 9 for mathematical operations and numeric literals.

Examples: 10, 25, 100, 3.14

3. Special Symbols

Special symbols are important for writing Python statements. They are used for mathematical operations, comparisons, assignment, brackets, punctuation, and other programming purposes.

• •      Mathematical operators: +, -, *, /, %, **, //
• •      Relational and assignment symbols: <, >, <=, >=, ==, !=, =
• •      Brackets and punctuation: (), [], {}, :, ;, ,, .
• •      Other commonly used symbols: _, #, @, quotes and backslash

4. White Spaces

Whitespace characters control spacing, formatting, and the layout of Python code. Indentation is especially important in Python because it is used to define blocks of code.

• •      Blank space (Spacebar)
• •      Tab (\t)
• •      Newline (\n)
• •      Carriage return (\r)

5. Unicode Characters

Python supports Unicode, allowing strings to contain characters from many writing systems around the world. This includes international scripts, emojis, and special currency or mathematical symbols.

Examples:

•      Hindi:नमस्ते
•      Marathi:नमस्कार
•      Greek: α, β, γ
•      Emojis:😊, 👍
•      Currency symbols: ₹, €, $

Example of Unicode in Python

>>> name = "देवगिरी महाविद्यालय"
>>> print(name)

The example shows that Python can store and display non-English characters in a string.

Character Set and Tokens

Characters are combined to form tokens, which are the smallest meaningful units of Python code. Examples of tokens include: 

• Keywords
• Identifiers
• Operators
• Literals.