ord()

ord() Signature

ord(c)

ord() Examples

With the uppercase letter "B" as an argument:

>>> ord("B")
66

With the lowercase letter "x" as an argument:

>>> ord("x")
120

With the character "ñ" as an argument:

>>> ord("ñ")
241

ord() Common Use Cases

The most common use cases for the ord() function include:

• Encoding characters into their Unicode code points
• Implementing basic cryptographic techniques
• Validating input characters

ord() Real-World Example

Let’s consider a function that checks whether all characters in a string are uppercase letters of the English alphabet. This function uses ord() to ensure each character’s code point falls within the range for uppercase letters:

>>> def is_uppercase(text):
...     for char in text:
...         if not (65 <= ord(char) <= 90):
...             return False
...     return True
...

>>> is_uppercase("HELLO")
True

>>> is_uppercase("Hello")
False

In this example, the ord() function helps determine if each character’s code point is within the range for uppercase letters (65 to 90), allowing the function to validate the string.

Related Resources

Tutorial

Unicode & Character Encodings in Python: A Painless Guide

In this tutorial, you'll get a Python-centric introduction to character encodings and unicode. Handling character encodings and numbering systems can at times seem painful and complicated, but this guide is here to help with easy-to-follow Python examples.

advanced python

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:

• Python's Built-in Functions: A Complete Exploration (Tutorial)
• Strings and Character Data in Python (Tutorial)
• Unicode in Python: Working With Character Encodings (Course)
• Python's Built-in Functions: A Complete Exploration (Quiz)
• Strings and Character Data in Python (Course)
• Python Strings and Character Data (Quiz)