`ord()`

The built-in ord() function returns the ordinal value of a character. When given a one-character string, it returns the character’s Unicode code point. When given a bytes or bytearray object of length 1, it returns the corresponding byte value as an integer:

>>> ord("A")
65

`ord()` Signature

ord(character, /)

Arguments

Argument	Description
`character`	A one-character string, or a `bytes` or `bytearray` object of length 1

Return Value

Returns an integer: the Unicode code point of the character when the argument is a one-character string, or the byte value when the argument is a bytes or bytearray of length 1.

`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

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.

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: