Python String find() Method

Searches the string for a specified value and returns the index of the first occurrence of the specified substring. Optional start and end indices can also be specified.

Syntax

Python
string.find(value, start = None, end = None)

Parameters

ParameterDescription
value Required. The value to search for.
start Optional. The index at which to start searching. The default is None meaning 0.
end Optional. The index at which to stop searching. The default is None meaning the end of the string.

Example

Python
str = 'Python is a great programming language for great people.'
print(str.find('great'))
print(str.find('great', 20))
print(str.find('great', 20, 30))

Output

12
43
-1

Notes: Notice how the index returned is the absolute index of the source string, regardless of the specified start position. Also notice that if the range does not include the substring, find returns -1.