How to Convert List to String in Python

In this post, we will learn how to convert list to string in python with very simple explanation and example.

There are four different ways to convert a list into a string. Let’s explore each of these one by one.

Using join() Method

The join() method helps us to join the elements of the list into a string with the help of a separator.

my_list = ["a","b","c"]
string = " ".join(my_list)

print(string) # Output: a b c
print(type(string)) # Output: <class 'str'>

In this example, all the elements of the list are strings. However, consider a list containing a mix of elements, including both strings and numbers. In that case, the join() method will not work because, to convert a list into a string, you must first convert all the elements of the list into strings. Then, you can use the join() method to combine them into a single string.

If you have a mixed list then you can use the map() function along with the join() method.

Using map() & join()

We will use the map() function to convert all the elements of the list into a string and after that, we will use the join() method to combine them into a single string.

Let’s see it with the help of example:

my_list = ["a","b","c",1]
string = " ".join(map(str,my_list))

print(string) # Output: a b c 1
print(type(string)) # Output: <class 'str'>

We can also achieve the same thing using for-loop.

Using for loop

my_list = ["a","b","c",2]
string = ""

for s in my_list:
    string = string + str(s) +" "

print(string) # Output: a b c 2 
print(type(string)) # Output: <class 'str'>

If you want your code to be shorter and easier to understand, you can use list comprehension instead of a for-loop.

Using List Comprehension

my_list = ["a","b","c",3]
string = " ".join([str(s) for s in my_list])

print(string) # Output: a b c 3 
print(type(string)) # Output: <class 'str'>

This is all the four ways to convert the list into a string, hope you will understand it well – thank you