How do I do a case-insensitive string comparison?
case-insensitive, comparison, python
Solution
Assuming ASCII strings:
string1 = 'Hello'
string2 = 'hello'
if string1.lower() == string2.lower():
print("The strings are the same (case insensitive)")
else:
print("The strings are NOT the same (case insensitive)")
As of Python 3.3, casefold() is a better alternative:
string1 = 'Hello'
string2 = 'hello'
if string1.casefold() == string2.casefold():
print("The strings are the same (case insensitive)")
else:
print("The strings are NOT the same (case insensitive)")
If you want a more comprehensive solution that handles more complex unicode comparisons, see other answers.
Problem
How can I compare strings in a case insensitive way in Python? I would like to encapsulate comparison of a regular strings to a repository string, using simple and Pythonic code. I also would like to have ability to look up values in a dict hashed by strings using regular python strings.