Quick Guide to the Python Ord Function

In Python, the ord() function accepts a single unit of character and returns the equivalent Unicode of the passed argument. In other words, the ord() function can take a string or character and return an integer representing the Unicode of that string or character.

ord() Function in Python

The ord() function is nothing but the inverse of the Python chr() function. In the chr() function, we will convert the Unicode integer to the character, and in the ord(), it will be the exact opposite in the ord ().

Syntax – ord(ch)

Parameters: Accepts Unicode character or a string of length 1.

Return Value : Returns an integer representing the Unicode character

Example ord() vs chr()

print(chr(97))
print(ord('a'))

Output

a
97

As you can see, the chr(97) returns character ‘a’, and the inverse ord('a')returns the integer 97.

ord() Function Examples

Let’s take a look at different types of examples.

print('Unicode of lower case alphabet a is ', ord('a')) # lower case alphabet 
print('Unicode of bumber 5 is ', ord('5')) # Number
print('Unicode of symobol $ is ', ord('$')) # dollar
print('Unicode of upper case alphabet A is ', ord('A')) # Upper case alphabet
print('Unicode of zero is ', ord('0')) # Number Zero

Output

Unicode of lower case alphabet a is 97
Unicode of bumber 5 is 53
Unicode of symobol $ is 36
Unicode of upper case alphabet A is 65
Unicode of zero is 48

TypeError: ord() expected a character, but string of length 2 found.

If the argument passed to the ord() function is more than 1 character, then Python will raise a TypeError: ord() expected a character, but string of length 2 found.

print(ord('AB'))

Output

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\Projects\Tryouts\main.py", line 9, in <module>
    print(ord('AB'))
TypeError: ord() expected a character, but string of length 2 found

This post first appeared on Python ord(): A Step-By-Step Guide