Is it possible to ignore string in quotes for python replace()? I have a string variable like this:

a = "I like bananas 'I like bananas'"

I want to get a result like this via replace():

"I like apples 'I like bananas'".

But when I execute print(a.replace("bananas", "apples")),the result is:

"I like apples 'I like apples'".

How can I do to make replace() ignore string in quotes?

CodePudding user response：

Split the string by ', process only the odd elements of the array, reassemble the string

a = "I like bananas 'I like bananas'"
ap = a.split("'")
ar = [ ai.replace("bananas", "apples")  if i%2==0 else ai for i,ai in enumerate(ap)]
print("'".join(ar))

CodePudding user response：

No, it is not possible, you cannot make replace ignore those matches. You will have to code your own solution.

CodePudding user response：

You can use count value (optional parameter of the replace method) to specify how many occurrences of the old value you want to replace. It works fine for both.

a = "I like bananas \"I like bananas\""
print(a.replace("bananas", "apples",1))

a = "I like bananas 'I like bananas'" 
print(a.replace("bananas", "apples",1))

Output:

I like apples 'I like bananas'