newbie string question

[Don Low]

>    0   1   2   3   4   5    <-- subscript index
>  +---+---+---+---+---+---+
> "| P | y | t | h | o | n |"
>  +---+---+---+---+---+---+
>  0   1   2   3   4   5   6  <-- slice index
> 
> Your slice went from 2 to 5, so it got only the "tho" part of the string.
> Here's what you got:
> 
>  +---+---+---+
> | t | h | o |
>  +---+---+---+
>  2   3   4   5
> 
> Other languages confuse the indices used when slicing things (as in
> the common substring() method) and when subscripting things (when you 
> take just a single item, such as pystr[4] which is "o" in the above).
> 
> Python avoids up this confusion by realizing they are not the same
> thing.  (Of course, this can confuse newcomers who don't realize 
> what happened, but at least the pain happens for you only once. :-)
> 
So if I understand, pystr[3] refers to the subscript index, but pystr[3:]
refers to the slice index. pystr[2:5] means slice at slice index 2 and 5,
not start at subscript index 2 and slice at slice index 5.

I just want to understand this once and for all.


-- 
Thanks,

Mark