What are the valid indexes for the string ‘New York”?
A through 7
B through 8
C -1 through-8
D -1 through 6
The correct answer and explanation is :
The correct answer is D: -1 through 6.
Explanation:
In Python, strings are indexed starting from 0 for the first character and increase from left to right. Additionally, Python supports negative indexing, which allows access to string characters starting from the end of the string with an index of -1.
Let’s break down the string "New York" and its corresponding indices:
String: "New York"
Index (positive): 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Character: N e w (space) Y o r k
Index (negative): -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1
- Positive indices range from
0to7. This is because"New York"has 8 characters, so the indices are from0to7. - Negative indices begin from
-1for the last character ('k') and continue backwards. Therefore, the negative indices range from-1to-8.
Now, let’s look at the provided options:
A: A through 7
This is incorrect because the range “A through 7” is not valid syntax in Python indexing. The character indices must be integers or, for negative indices, integer values such as -1, -2, etc.
B: B through 8
This is incorrect because indices are integers, not alphabetic characters. Additionally, the valid range for positive indices is 0 through 7, not 0 through 8.
C: -1 through -8
This is partially correct but misleading because the negative index range from -1 to -8 actually spans the entire string, which goes from right to left. However, it doesn’t match the valid range for all positive indices (which are from 0 through 7).
D: -1 through 6
This is the correct answer because negative indexing in Python starts from -1 (for the last character) and goes to -8 for the first character of the string. The valid range for accessing elements with both positive and negative indices is -1 through 6.
In summary, D: -1 through 6 is the correct option because it encompasses both valid negative and positive indices for the string "New York".