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

Take Input from the User: Use the input() function to get a string from the user.
Split the String into Words: Use the split() method to break the string into a list of words.
Count the Number of Words: Use the len() function to count the number of elements in the list.
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.