in-place string reversal

[olsongt at verizon.net]

Sathyaish wrote:
> How would you reverse a string "in place" in python? I am seeing that
> there are a lot of operations around higher level data structures and
> less emphasis on primitive data. I am a little lost and can't find my
> way through seeing a rev() or a reverse() or a strRev() function around
> a string object.
>
> I could traverse from end-to-beginning by using extra memory:
>
> strText = "foo"
> strTemp = ""
> for chr in strText:
>    strTemp = chr + strTemp
>
>
> but how would I do it in place?
>
>
> Forget it! I got the answer to my own question. Strings are immutable,
> *even* in python. Why not! The python compiler is written in C, right?
> It is amazing how just writing down your problem can give you a
> solution.
>
>
> PS: Or, if my assumption that strings are immutable and an in-place
> reversal is possible, is wrong, please correct me.

If you are using strings that are long enough where you're going to run
into memory issues, you can create a character array from the array
module.  This will basically create a mutable string.