Reference library

Strings & text

Format, split, join, parse, and clean text — everyday Python string patterns.

1 match
Strings & text easy

How to Filter Text to Only Letters, Numbers, and Spaces in Python

A beginner-friendly function that filters a string to keep only alphabetic characters, digits, and spaces, removing punctuation and symbols.

text-filtering strings beginner
Python 
def filter_text(text, keep_alpha=True, keep_digits=True, keep_spaces=True):
    allowed = set()
    if keep_alpha:
        allowed.update("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ")
    if keep_digits:
        allowed.update("0123456789")
    if keep_spaces:
        allowed.add(" ")
    return "".join(ch f…
11 0 Open

Browse by section

Each section groups closely related Python snippets.

Strings & text — Python code examples

What you will find here

This page collects strings & text snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.

Samples vs tutorials and challenges

Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.

Related coding tools

Free online Python IDE Write and run Python in your browser — no install. Free Python code formatter Format with autopep8 — side-by-side PEP 8 cleanup. Python code samples Copy-ready snippets to study and run in the IDE.