Ways to Convert List of ASCII Value to String - Python

Last Updated : 03 Feb, 2025

The task of converting a list of ASCII values to a string in Python involves transforming each integer in the list, which represents an ASCII code, into its corresponding character. For example, with the list a = [71, 101, 101, 107, 115], the goal is to convert each value into a character, resulting in the string "Geeks".

Using map()

map() can be used with the chr() function to convert each ASCII value to its corresponding character. This method is efficient because map() applies the function directly to each element in the list, and when combined with ''.join(), it avoids the overhead of repeated string concatenation, making it ideal for this task.

Python

a = [71, 101, 101, 107, 115, 102, 111, 114, 71, 101, 101, 107, 115]
res = ''.join(map(chr, a))

print(res)

Output

GeeksforGeeks

Explanation: map(chr, a) converts each ASCII value in the list a to its corresponding character and ''.join() then combines all the characters into a single string without any separators.

Using list comprehension

For converting ASCII values to characters, a list comprehension can be used in conjunction with chr() to generate a list of characters, which is then joined into a single string using ''.join(). This approach is both efficient and Pythonic, often preferred for its readability and clarity.

Python

a = [71, 101, 101, 107, 115, 102, 111, 114, 71, 101, 101, 107, 115]
res = ''.join([chr(val) for val in a])

print(res)

Output

GeeksforGeeks

Explanation: [chr(val) for val in a] converts each ASCII value in a to a character and ''.join() combines them into a single string.

Using bytearray

We can create a bytearray from the list of ASCII values and then decode it to obtain the corresponding string. This method is optimal for handling byte-oriented tasks and avoids the overhead of string concatenation.

Python

a = [71, 101, 101, 107, 115, 102, 111, 114, 71, 101, 101, 107, 115]
res = bytearray(a).decode()

print(res)

Output

GeeksforGeeks

Explanation: bytearray(a) creates a bytearray from the list a and .decode() converts the bytearray into a string by interpreting the bytes as characters.

Using for loop

A traditional approach to convert ASCII values to a string is to use a for-loop to iterate through the list, apply chr() to each ASCII value and concatenate the results into a string. While straightforward, this method is less efficient because it repeatedly creates new string objects during each concatenation .

Python

a = [71, 101, 101, 107, 115, 102, 111, 114, 71, 101, 101, 107, 115]
res = "" # initialize empty string

for val in a:
    res += chr(val)
print(res)

Output

GeeksforGeeks

Explanation: for loop iterates through each value in the list a, converts each ASCII value to a character using chr(val) and appends it to the res string using +=.