What is the difference between single and double quote in python?

Question

A String is a sequence of characters. You are allowed to start and end a string literal with single and double quotes in Python. There are two ways to represent a string in python programming.

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What are single quotes used for in Python?
Example usage of single quotes in Python
What are double quotes in Python used for?
Key Differences Between Single and Double Quotes in Python
Bonus – Triple Quotes in Python
Example of triple quotes
What are Single Quotes used for in Python?
The Problem with Quotation Marks inside a String
Escaping a String in Python
What are Double Quotes used for in Python?
What is the Difference Between Single and Double Quotation Marks in Python?
Python Single vs. Double Quotes PEP8
Single vs. Double Quotes Best Practices
Should You Use Single or Double Quotes in Python?
Triple Quotes in Python
Stay connected
Should I use single or double quotes in Python?
What is the difference between a single and double quote?
What does double quotes do in Python?
What is the difference between single quotes double quotes and triple quotes in Python?

In this article, you will see the difference between both the quotation marks with the help of an example i.e. code with its output.

What are single quotes used for in Python?

Single quotes are used to mark a quote within a quote or a direct quote in a news story headline.

When programming with Python, we generally use single quotes for string literals. For example – ‘my-identifier’. Let us understand with an example through code in Python.

NOTE: Always make use of single quotes when you know your string may contain double quotes within.

Example usage of single quotes in Python

Below is the code where you can see the implementation of single quote.

word = 'Ask?'
print(word)
sentence = 'Python Programming'
print(sentence)
name = '"Hi" ABC'
print(name)
congrat = 'We congrat's you.'
print(congrat)

Output

Ask?
Python Programming
"Hi" ABC
Invalid Syntax

What are double quotes in Python used for?

A double quotation mark is to set off a direct (word-for-word) quotation. For example – “I hope you will be here,” he said. In Python Programming, we use Double Quotes for string representation. Let us understand with an example through code in python.

NOTE: Use double quotes to enclose your strings when you know there are going to be single quotes within your string

Code

wish = "Hello World!"
print(wish)
hey = "AskPython says "Hi""
print(hey)
famous ="'Taj Mahal' is in Agra."
print(famous)

Output

Hello World!
Invalid Syntax
'Taj Mahal' is in Agra.

Key Differences Between Single and Double Quotes in Python

Single Quotation Mark	Double Quotation Mark
Represented as ‘ ‘	Represented as ” “
Single quotes for anything that behaves like an Identifier.	Double quotes generally we used for text.
Single quotes are used for regular expressions, dict keys or SQL.	Double quotes are used for string representation.
Eg. ‘We “welcome” you.’	Eg. “Hello it’s me.”

Bonus – Triple Quotes in Python

What if you have to use strings that may include both single and double quotes? For this, Python allows you to use triple quotes. A simple example for the same is shown below. Triple quotes also allow you to add multi-line strings to Python variables instead of being limited to single lines.

Example of triple quotes

sentence1 = '''He asked, "did you speak with him?"'''
print(sentence1)
sentence2 = '''"That's great", she said.'''
print(sentence2)

Output:

He asked, "did you speak with him?"
"That's great", she said.

As you can see, Python now understands that the double and single quotes are part of the string and do not need to be escaped.

Conclusion

To conclude this simple topic, I’d like to say this – the difference between single and double quotes in Python is not huge. It absolutely depends on the circumstances that we use single and double quotes in.

As a programmer, you can decide what fits best for your string declaration. And when in doubt, go for the triple quotes so you have no issues with what’s included within the string.

Python oftentimes leaves you with options, and quotes are no exception. What are the differences between Python single and double quotes? Which one should you use? When does one have an edge over the other? What are triple quotes? It's easy to get confused if you're a beginner.

You see, Python is a lot different from, let's say Java. In Java, you must use double quotes for strings, and are only allowed to use single quotes for characters. That's not the deal with Python. You have much more flexibility than in statically-typed languages. But is it actually a good thing? Continue reading to find out.

Don't feel like reading? Watch my video instead:

What are Single Quotes used for in Python?

In Python, it's a best practice to use single quotes to surround small and short strings, such as string literals or identifiers. But here's the deal - it's not a requirement. You can write entire paragraphs and articles inside single quotes.

Here are a couple of examples:

name = 'Bob'
print(name)

channel = 'Better Data Science'
print(channel)

paragraph = 'Bob likes the content on Better Data Science. Bob is cool. Be like Bob.'
print(paragraph)

What is the difference between single and double quote in python?

Image 1 - Single quotes example (image by author)

There's no character limit set for the content between single quotes, but there are a few gotchas you'll inevitably run into. The first one is a quotation mark inside a string.

The Problem with Quotation Marks inside a String

The English language is full of single quotation marks (apostrophes). For example, I can write we are or we're, and both represent the same thing. Opting for the second option is problematic if you want to use single quotes to surround strings in Python:

print('We're going skiing this winter.')

Image 2 - Syntax error when printing a string with quotation marks (image by author)

Python thinks the string ends after We, so everything after it is considered a syntactical error. You can easily spot errors like these in code editors, as the part after We is colored differently.

There are three ways around it:

Stop using contractions (we are -> we're) - Not practical at all.
Escape a string - A possibility we'll explore next.
Use double quotation - Something we'll cover later.

Escaping a String in Python

The main idea behind escaping a string is preventing certain characters from being used as a part of the programming language. For example, we don't want the apostrophe treated as a quotation mark.

In Python, you can use the backslash (\) sign to escape a string character:

print('We\'re going skiing this winter.')

Image 3 - Escaping a character in Python (image by author)

That's cool, but backslash is often used as a literal character in strings - for example, to represent a path on a computer. Let's see what happens if you try to print a path using the escape character:

print('C:\Users\Bob')

Image 4 - Syntax error when using invalid escape character (image by author)

Probably not what you wanted to see. As it turns out, you can escape the escape character in two ways:

By using a raw string - Write r before the first quotation mark.
Use double backslash - This will essentially escape the escape character.

Here's how to use both:

print(r'C:\Users\Bob')
print('C:\\Users\\Bob')

Image 5 - Two ways to use backslash inside a string (image by author)

These two apply both for strings surrounded with single and double quotes. We haven't covered double quotes yet, so let's do that next.

What are Double Quotes used for in Python?

It's considered a best practice to use double quotes for natural language messages, string interpolations, and whenever you know there will be single quotes within the string.

Here are a couple of examples:

name = 'Bob'

# Natural language
print("It is easy to get confused with single and double quotes in Python.")

# String interpolation
print(f"{name} said there will be food.")

# No need to escape a character
print("We're going skiing this winter.")

# Quotation inside a string
print("My favorite quote from Die Hard is 'Welcome to the party, pal'")

Image 6 - Using double quotes in Python (image by author)

As you can see, we can easily embed quotations into strings surrounded by double quotation marks. Also, there's no need to escape a character as we had to with single quotes.

Keep in mind: you can't use double quotes again in a string surrounded by double quotes. Doing so will result in the same syntax error as with single quotes:

print("You can't use "double quotes" inside this string.")

Image 7 - Syntax error when using double quotes inside a double quote string (image by author)

To mitigate, you can reuse the solution from the previous section, but you can also wrap the string in single quotes instead:

print('You can use "double quotes" like this.')

Image 8 - Using double quotes in a string (image by author)

Now you know how to use both single and double quotes in Python. We'll recap on the differences and introduce best practices next.

What is the Difference Between Single and Double Quotation Marks in Python?

Here's a summary table answering the question Should you use single or double quotes in Python:

Image 9 - Differences between single and double quotes in Python (image by author)

In short, you can use both in all cases, but double quotes are more often used with text and longer strings. There's no one forbidding you to use single quotes everywhere, but you'll have to be more careful, as single quotes are more sensitive to specific characters.

There are some official recommendations from the creators of Python, so let's go over them next.

Python Single vs. Double Quotes PEP8

According to PEP8:

PEP doesn't make a recommendation on whether to use single or double quotes - pick a rule and stick to it.
When a string is surrounded with single quotes, use double quotes inside it to avoid backslashes.
When a string is surrounded with double quotes, use single quotes inside it to avoid backslashes.
When using triple quoted strings, always use double quote characters inside it.

We'll go over triple quoted strings and their use cases shortly.

Single vs. Double Quotes Best Practices

Best practices for single quoted strings:

Make sure the string is somewhat short, or you're dealing with a string literals
Make sure there are no single quotations inside the string, as adding escape characters has a toll on readability.

Best practices for double quoted strings:

Use double quotes for text and string interpolation.
Use double quotes when there's a quotation inside a string - you can easily surround the quotation with single quotes.

Should You Use Single or Double Quotes in Python?

The ultimate answer is - it depends, mostly on your style preferences. Python doesn't make any difference between single and double quotes, so the decision is up to you.

What you shouldn't do is constantly switch between single and double quotes inside a single Python file or a module. Pick the one you like better and be consistent with it.

Triple Quotes in Python

Yep - there's even a third type of quote in Python. These have their own set of advantages:

You can use both single and double quotes inside them.
You can split the string into multiple lines.
They are considered as a best practice when writing docstrings.

Let's go over a couple of examples:

print("""Triple quote string example 1""")
print('''Triple quote string example 2''')

print("""Here's a string I'll split into
mulitple 
lines.""")

print("""You can use 'single quotes' and "double quotes" inside!""")

Image 10 - Triple quotes in Python (image by author)

As you can see, there's no dedicated triple quote character on a keyboard, so we write them using either three single or three double quotes. The biggest advantage is that you can split the string into multiple lines just by pressing Enter, which radically improves the readability.

Still, a primary use case for triple quotes are documentation strings (docstrings) for functions:

def sum_list(lst: list):
    """Iterates over every list element and sums them.
    
    Keyword arguments:
    lst -- the input sequence of numbers.
    """
    res = 0
    for num in lst:
        res += num
        
    return res

You're free to use both ''' and """ to surround a docstring, but the convention is to use the latter.

Conclusion

Long story short - the differences between single and double quoted strings in Python are minimal. You can use either one for anything - just make sure to stick to your programming conventions. There are some use cases when one type has the edge over the other, but these are few and far between.

Single quoted strings could cause you some trouble if there are quotations inside the string, so keep that in mind. Double quoted strings are a safer bet, but not enough to pick one over the other.

Learn More

Python If-Else Statement in One Line - Ternary Operator Explained
Python Structural Pattern Matching - Top 3 Use Cases to Get You Started
Dask Delayed - How to Parallelize Your Python Code With Ease

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Should I use single or double quotes in Python?

What are Double Quotes used for in Python? It's considered a best practice to use double quotes for natural language messages, string interpolations, and whenever you know there will be single quotes within the string.

What is the difference between a single and double quote?

General Usage Rules In America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the general rule is that double quotes are used to denote direct speech. Single quotes are used to enclose a quote within a quote, a quote within a headline, or a title within a quote.

What does double quotes do in Python?

What are double quotes in Python used for? A double quotation mark is to set off a direct (word-for-word) quotation. For example – “I hope you will be here,” he said. In Python Programming, we use Double Quotes for string representation.

What is the difference between single quotes double quotes and triple quotes in Python?

This article describes the following contents..

Single quotes: '.

Double quotes: ".

Difference between single quotes and double quotes. Both values are equal. Quotes in strings are handled differently..

Triple quotes: ''' , """ Multiple lines. ... .

Convert other types to strings: str() Convert numbers to strings..

programming python Quote Python Convert quotes python Prettier single quotes Python Triple quote

What is the difference between single and double quote in python?

What are single quotes used for in Python?

Example usage of single quotes in Python

What are double quotes in Python used for?

Code

Key Differences Between Single and Double Quotes in Python

Bonus – Triple Quotes in Python

Example of triple quotes

Conclusion

What are Single Quotes used for in Python?

The Problem with Quotation Marks inside a String

Escaping a String in Python

What are Double Quotes used for in Python?

What is the Difference Between Single and Double Quotation Marks in Python?

Python Single vs. Double Quotes PEP8

Single vs. Double Quotes Best Practices

Should You Use Single or Double Quotes in Python?

Triple Quotes in Python

Conclusion

Learn More

Stay connected

Should I use single or double quotes in Python?

What is the difference between a single and double quote?

What does double quotes do in Python?

What is the difference between single quotes double quotes and triple quotes in Python?

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