To extract a single character from a string, refer to the character using its index. For example, the following code extracts the first character from a string (and then overwrites the string):

value = value[0]

It is important to remember that, in Python, indexing starts at 0, not 1. The first character of a string is index 0, the second character is index 1, and so on.

The simple script above is useful for converting 'MALE' and 'FEMALE' to 'M' and 'F', respectively.

	For more information on string indexing, see String Indexing and Slices.