Slicing strings with ranges

In the Splitting strings recipe, we saw how to use a token (by default, a whitespace) to split a string and get a list of strings delimited by that token. What if we wish to get only a portion of the original string?

Getting ready

We will use IEx. Start it by entering iex in the command line.

How to do it…

To slice a string using a range, follow these steps:

1. Define a string:

   iex(1)> my_string = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
   "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
   

2. Define two ranges:

   iex(2)> my_range_one = 10..14
   10..14
   iex(3)> my_range_two = -27..-25
   -27..-25
   

3. Use the String.slice/2 function to slice the original string using my_range_one:

   iex(4)> String.slice(my_string, my_range_one)
   "brown"
   

4. Use the String.slice/2 function to slice the original string using my_range_two:

   iex(4)> String.slice(my_string, my_range_two)
   "fox"
   

How it works…

The String.slice/2 function uses a range to determine...