Convert List to String in Python

How to convert a list to a string in Python? To convert a list to a string in python use the join() method, this method is used to join all the elements from the list with the specified separator and return a string. Besides this, there are other approaches as well to convert a list to a string. In this article. I will cover all these that convert a list to a string. Note that list can store elements of multiple data types and a string is a sequence of characters.

1. Quick Examples of Converting List to String

If you are in a hurry, below are some quick examples of how to convert a list to a string in python.


# Quick examples of converting list to string

# Create a list with 5 elements
myList=['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']

# Example 1: Use join() function
# To convert list to string
myString = " ".join(myList)

# Example 2: Use join() with map()
myString " ".join(map(str, myList))

# Example 3: Use List Comprehension with join()
myString = " ".join([i for i in myList])

# Example 4: Use for loop to convert list to string
myString=""
for x in myList:
    myString = myString + " " + x

# Example 5: Use str.format()
myString = "{} {} {} {} {}".format(*myList)

2. Python Convert List to String using join()

The join() in python is used to convert the list to a string. This method takes the list of strings as an argument, joins with the specified separator, and returns it as a string. Actually, join can take any iterable as an argument and returns a combined string with a space separator, you can also use this method to join the elements with any other string as a separator.

Note that using join is often faster and more memory-efficient than concatenating the strings using the + operator, especially when the number of elements in the list is large.

2.1 join() Syntax

Following is the syntax of the join(). Note that the values in the iterable should be of string data type.


# Syntax of join()
" ".join(list1)

2.2 Example

Let’s create a list named 'myList' and convert this list to a string using join(). In the below example, I used the space separator that separates each element in the string.

Make sure you have a list of elements with string type. In case you have integers you will get a TypeError.


# Initialize list
myList=['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']
print("Original list:\n", myList)

# Use join() to convert list to string
myString = " ".join(myList)
print("converting the list to a string:\n",myString)

Yields below output.

Let’s try the same example with a comma separator.


# Use join() with comma separator
myString = ",".join(myList)

# Output:
# Welcome,to,spark,by,examples

3. Convert List to String using map()

Here, we will utilize the join() method and pass the map() function as a parameter to join() method. map() will convert the list of elements to a string by taking str as the first parameter and the list name as the second parameter. str refers to the string data type.

You can also use this approach if you have a list of elements with an integer type. The map() methods execute a specific function for all elements in an iterable. Here, we used it to convert each value in the list into a string.

3.1 map() Syntax

Following is the syntax of the join() with map()


# Syntax
# str refers to the string datatype and 
#list1 is the name of our list.
" ".join(map(str, list1))

3.2 Use join() with map()

Let’s use the join() method with map() to convert a list of strings into a single string. For instance, you start with the list myList, which contains strings. The map(str, myList) part converts each element of the list to a string using the str() function. Then, the join() method concatenates these string elements into a single string. In this case, the elements are joined with a space between them (" ".join()). Finally, you print the original list and the result string.


# Initialize list
myList=['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']
print("Original list:\n", myList)

# Use join() with map()
myString = " ".join(map(str, myList))
print("converting the list to a string:\n",myString)

# Output:
# Original list:
#  ['Welcome', 'to', 'spark', 'by', 'examples']
# Converting the list to a string:
#  Welcome to spark by examples

Using the join() method with map() to convert a list of integers into a single string. For instance, you start with the list myList, which contains integers. The map(str, myList) part converts each element of the list to a string using the str() function. Then, the join() method concatenates these string elements into a single string. In this case, the elements are joined with a space between them (" ".join()). Finally, you print the original list and the result string.


# Initialize list
myList=[10,20,30,40]
print("Original list:\n", myList)

# To convert list to string using map()
myString = " ".join(map(str, myList))
print("Converting the list to a string:\n",myString)

Yields below output.

4. List to String using List Comprehension with join()

Here, we will utilize the join() method and pass the list comprehension as a parameter to it. Inside the list comprehension, we will iterate all the elements in a list and join them. By using this you can filter the string values from the list that you don’t want to convert.

4.1 List Comprehension with join() Syntax


" ".join([iterator for iterator  in list1])

4.2 Use List Comprehension with join()


# Initialize list
myList=['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']
print("Original list:\n", myList)

# Use List Cpmprehension with join()
myString = " ".join([i for i in myList])
print("Converting the list to a string:\n",myString)

# Output:
# Original list:
#  ['Welcome', 'to', 'spark', 'by', 'examples']
# Converting the list to a string:
#  Welcome to spark by examples

5. Convert List to String using for loop in Python

Alternatively, you can also convert the list to a string by using the for loop to iterate the list. So we will iterate all the elements in the list and concatenate them to the string using the + operator. By using this also you can use any separator when joining strings.

5.1 For loop Syntax


# Use for loop to convert list to string, Here, list1 is the input list and 
# iterator is used to iterate elements in the list.
for iterator in list1:
    print(iterator ,end=" ")

5.2 Use for loop

Let’s use the for loop to convert the list to a string. Note that the join method can be very useful when you want to convert a python list to string. It is often faster and more memory-efficient than concatenating the strings using the + operator, especially when the number of strings is large.


myList=['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']
print(myList)

# Use for loop to convert list to string
myString = ""
for x in myList:
    myString = myString+" "+x
print(myString)

# Output:
# ['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']
# Welcome to spark by examples

6. Python Convert List to String using format()

The format() method in python can also be used to convert a list to a string. Here, we can pass our list inside this method by unpacking it. Unpacking is done by specifying the unpack operator – *.

It is important to specify the {} for each string present in the list. If the total number of elements in the list is 5, then you need to specify 5 {}’s. Note that this approach can be used only when you have a few elements in a list, not suggestable when you have a large list.

6.1 format() Syntax


#Here, list1 is the input list
"{} ...".format(*list1)

6.2 Use str.format()

To convert a list to a string using the format() method, you can use the str.format() method along with the join() method. For instance, the curly braces {} in the format string act as placeholders. The format(*myList) part unpacks the elements of myList and inserts them into the corresponding placeholders in the format string. The join() method concatenates the formatted strings into a single string with spaces between them.


# Initialize list
myList=['Welcome','to','spark','by','examples']
print("Original list:\n", myList)

# Convert list to string using format() and join()
myString = "{} {} {} {} {}".format(*myList)
print("Converting the list to a string:\n",myString)

# Output:
# Original list:
#  ['Welcome', 'to', 'spark', 'by', 'examples']
# Converting the list to a string:
#  Welcome to spark by examples

Frequently Asked Questions on Convert List to String in Python

How can I convert a list to a string in Python?

To convert a list to a string in Python, you can use the join method, which is a string method. For example, the join method is used to concatenate the elements of my_list into a string. The space (' ') is used as a separator between the elements. You can replace it with any other string if you want a different separator.

Can I use a different delimiter when joining elements of a list?

You can use a different delimiter when joining elements of a list by specifying that delimiter as an argument to the join method. For example, the ',' string is used as the delimiter, so the elements of my_list will be joined with a comma and a space in between.

How can I convert a list of numbers to a string in Python?

You can convert a list of numbers to a string using the join() method along with a list comprehension or the map() function.

Can I convert a list of mixed data types to a string?

You can convert a list of mixed data types to a string using join() with a list comprehension or map(). The elements will be converted to strings before concatenation.

What’s the difference between using join() with map(str, my_list) and a list comprehension?

Both approaches achieve the same result, converting a list to a string. The map(str, my_list) approach is concise and often preferred for simplicity, while a list comprehension provides more flexibility if additional transformations are needed.

Can I convert a list of strings to a single camel-cased string?

You can convert a list of strings to a single camel-cased string in Python. Camel case typically involves capitalizing the first letter of each word except the first one, and then concatenating them without spaces.

Conclusion

So we have seen five different ways to convert the given list of elements to a string in Python. Majorly we have used the join() method and for loop to convert a list of elements to a string. Remember you need to specify {} while using the format() method and a total number of {} should be equal to the total number of elements in the list. If you miss, then only some elements return as a string.

Happy Learning!!