Summary  
This chapter covers accessing characters in a string via negative indices (e.g., -1 for the last character) and determining the total number of characters using a built-in length function.  

General domain of usage  
Text processing

You can also index from the end of the string. In this case, the last element has an index of `-1`, the second-to-last is `-2`, and so on.

# Initial string
site = "codefinity"
# Get the letters 'y' and 'f'
print(site[-1], site[-6])

> **Note**
>
> Keep in mind that `-1` is the go-to way to access the last element.

Now that you're familiar with referencing characters in a string, you might wonder how to determine the total number of characters in that string. Fortunately, Python provides the `len()` function for that. Just pass the string or the variable holding the string as an argument.

# Initial string
site = "codefinity"
# Get the string length
print(len(site))

As you might notice, the length of a string corresponds to the number of characters in it. Thus, **the total count of characters in a string is always one greater than the index of its last character**. For instance, if the length of a string is `10`, the index of its last character is `9`.

> **Note**
>
> You can also determine the index of the last character by using `len(string) - 1`.

For the string `test` provided below, identify the character at index `-4`.

Python is an interpreted high-level general-purpose programming language. Unlike HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which are primarily used for web development, Python is versatile and can be used in various fields, including software development, data science, and back-end development. In this course, you'll explore the core aspects of Python, and by the end, you'll be crafting your own functions!

Dive into the basics of Python, explore your workspace, and perform simple math operations. Learn how to write readable code using comments and handle both basic and advanced mathematical expressions while displaying your results.

Learn how to store and manage data in Python by working with numbers, text, and variables. Understand how to assign values, follow naming conventions, and explore different data types. Gain hands-on experience with string operations, indexing, slicing, and memory recall techniques to efficiently manipulate text in Python.

Learn how to use comparison and logical operators, work with conditional expressions, and apply membership and type comparisons. Build a strong foundation in writing programs that respond dynamically to different conditions using if/else and if/elif/else structures.

Expand your understanding of data types by learning how to group multiple attributes within a single variable. Explore lists, tuples, and dictionaries to efficiently store and manage structured data, along with essential methods for manipulation and retrieval.

Master the art of writing loops in Python—essential constructs for iterating over lists, tuples, dictionaries, and other data structures. Learn to use while and for loops effectively, explore the range function, and work with nested loops to handle complex iteration patterns.

Explore essential built-in functions in Python and take the next step by creating your own. Learn how to define functions, use conditional logic, modify existing functions, and work with lambda expressions to write efficient, reusable code.

Which of these is a correct way to create a variable?

How do you store the text `"Hello"` in a variable named `greeting`?

Which of these variable names is valid in Python?

What is the correct way to output `"c<>definity"` in the console?

How can you convert the string `"123"` to an integer?

What will happen when the following code is executed?

Negative Indexing and String Length in Python