both_ends.py

'''
Created on Mar 18, 2014

@author: Dario Bonino <dario.bonino@polito.it>

Copyright (c) 2014 Dario Bonino
 
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License
'''

def both_ends(string):
    # if the string has more than 2 chars, return only the first and the last 2
    if(len(string) > 2):
        return string[:2] + string[-2:]
    # else return the empty string
    else:
        return ""

if __name__ == '__main__':
    # get the input string
    string = raw_input("Insert a string:\n>")
    
    # print the computed string
    print both_ends(string)