Python Program to Count the Number of Words in a String

Introduction

Counting the number of words in a string is a common task in text processing. A word is typically defined as a sequence of characters separated by spaces. This tutorial will guide you through creating a Python program that counts the number of words in a given string.

Example:

• Input: hello world

• Output: Number of words: 2

• Input: Python programming is fun

• Output: Number of words: 4

Problem Statement

Create a Python program that:

• Takes a string as input.
• Counts the number of words in the string.
• Displays the total count of words.

Solution Steps

1. Take Input from the User: Use the input() function to get a string from the user.
2. Split the String into Words: Use the split() method to break the string into a list of words.
3. Count the Number of Words: Use the len() function to count the number of elements in the list.
4. Display the Word Count: Use the print() function to display the total count of words.

Python Program

# Python Program to Count the Number of Words in a String
# Author: https://www.rameshfadatare.com/

# Step 1: Take input from the user
input_string = input("Enter a string: ")

# Step 2: Split the string into words
words = input_string.split()

# Step 3: Count the number of words
word_count = len(words)

# Step 4: Display the word count
print(f"Number of words: {word_count}")

Explanation

Step 1: Take Input from the User

• The input() function prompts the user to enter a string. The input is stored in the variable input_string.

Step 2: Split the String into Words

• The split() method is used to break the string into a list of words, where each word is a sequence of characters separated by spaces.

Step 3: Count the Number of Words

• The len() function is used to count the number of elements in the list, which represents the number of words in the string.

Step 4: Display the Word Count

• The print() function is used to display the total count of words in the string.

Output Example

Example 1:

Enter a string: hello world
Number of words: 2

Example 2:

Enter a string: Python programming is fun
Number of words: 4

Example 3:

Enter a string: This is a test string
Number of words: 5

Conclusion

This Python program demonstrates how to count the number of words in a string by splitting the string into a list of words and then counting the elements in that list. It’s a straightforward example that helps beginners understand string manipulation, lists, and basic functions in Python.