Final answer:
In programming, the '*' symbol is the repetition operator used for repeating strings, such as in the Python expression 'Hello'*3, which results in 'HelloHelloHello'.
Step-by-step explanation:
When working with strings in programming, the symbol used as the repetition operator for repeating strings is option 2) *. For example, to repeat a string in Python, you would write something like 'Hello'*3 which will produce 'HelloHelloHello'. This is a common feature in many programming languages including Python, where the asterisk (*) is used to repeat the string the specified number of times.
It's important to note that this operator is different from the mathematical operations. Unlike mathematics where + is for addition, - for subtraction, / for division, and * for multiplying numbers to produce another number, in the context of strings, the * symbol takes a string and an integer to create a longer string by repeating the original string multiple times.