What is Python strip()?
Python strip() is a built-in function included in the Python library. The strip() function removes leading and trailing spaces to return a copy of the original string. By default, the strip() method helps to remove whitespaces from the start and the end of the string.
Syntax of String strip()
Here is the syntax:
string.strip(chars)
strip() Parameters
Here is the strip() parameter:
The characters are a set of strings specifying the set of characters whose leading and trailing spaces have to be removed.
In case the optional characters parameter is not given, all leading and trailing whitespaces are removed from the string.
strip() Return Value
Here is the strip() Return Value:
It returns a copy of the string with both leading and trailing characters removed.
Example 1: strip() Method in Python
Let us see an example to remove the leading and trailing spaces from a given strip in Python using strip() method.
str1 = "Welcome to Great Learning!"
after_strip = str1.strip()Here’s what the output looks like:
Welcome to Great Learning
Example 2: strip() on Invalid Data Type
The strip() function in Python works only with strings. It will return an error if used for data types such as lists, tuples, etc.
Let us take an example where it is used for lists:
mylist = ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
print(mylist.strip()) Here’s what the output looks like:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “teststrip.py”, line 2, in <module>
print(mylist.strip())
AttributeError: ‘list’ object has no attribute ‘strip’
The output shows an error.
Example 3: strip() Without character parameter
When used without a char parameter, here is how the strip() function works in Python:
str1 = "Welcome to Great Learning!"
after_strip = str1.strip()
print(after_strip) str2 = "Welcome to Great Learning!"
after_strip1 = str2.strip()
print(after_strip1)Output
Here’s what the output looks like:
Welcome to Great Learning!
Example 4: strip() Passing character parameters
Here’s how to use the strip() function in this case:
str1 = "****Welcome to Great Learning!****"
after_strip = str1.strip("*")
print(after_strip) str2 = "Welcome to Great Learning!"
after_strip1 = str2.strip("99!")
print(after_strip1)
str3 = "Welcome to Great Learning!"
after_strip3 = str3.strip("to")
print(after_strip3)Output:
Welcome to Great Learning!
Welcome to Great Learning
Welcome to Great Learning!
Why Python strip() function is used?
Strip() function in Python has a lot of useful advantages for developers. Here are the key reasons to use the strip() function –
- The strip() function helps in removing the characters, symbols, etc. at the start and end of the string to return the value of the original string.
- It also helps in removing the whitespaces from the start or the end of the given string.
- In case the character that needs to be removed is not specified and there are no whitespaces in the string then the string will return as it is.
- If the character parameters are specified but there are no whitespaces in the string then the string will be returned with the original whitespaces removed from it.
- If the character parameter is specified and the string contains a matching character at the beginning of the string, then those will be removed and the string is returned.
- If the character parameter is specified but the string does not contain a matching character either at the front or the end of the string, it will be returned as it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Strip() is a function in the Python library that helps to return the copy of the string after removing the leading and trailing characters, whitespaces, and symbols that have been passed to the strip() function. Simply put, the Python strip() function is responsible for the removal of characters from the left and the right side of the string. It is done so when a set of character parameters are specified as an argument to the strip() function. In case there is no argument, it will remove whitespaces by default.
Here is an example of the strip() function in Python –
strinput = ” $$$$$ No. 1 Welcome to GREAT LEARNING!! No. 1 $$$ ”
# use strip() function to remove the set of characters
res = strinput.strip ( ‘ $No. 10 !’ ) # store result into res variable
print ( ” Given string is: “, strinput)
print ( ” After removing the set of characters: “, res)
str3 = ‘ 1 11 111 111 1111 Learn Python Tutorial 1111 111 11 1 ‘
str4 = str3. strip ( ‘1’ )
print (” \n Given string is “, str3)
print (” Stripping 1 from both ends of the string using strip (‘1’) function “, str4)
# define new string
str5 = ‘++++++Python Tutorial****** $$$$$’
print (“\n Given string is = “, str5)
# use strip function to remove the symbols from both ends
str6 = str5. strip ( ‘ $*+’ )
print (” Stripping the ‘+’, ‘*’ and ‘$’ symbols on both sides of the string is = “, str6)
Output
Here’s what the output looks like:
Given string is: $$$$$ No. 1 Welcome to GREAT LEARNING!! No. 1 $$$
After the strip() function removes the set of characters: Welcome to GREAT LEARNING
Given string is 1 11 111 111 1111 Learn Python Tutorial 1111 111 11 1
After strip() function Strips 1 from both ends of the string using strip (‘1’) function 1 11 111 111 1111 Learn Python Tutorial 1111 111 11 1
Given string is = ++++++Python Tutorial****** $$$$$
Stripping the ‘+’, ‘*’ and ‘$’ symbols on both sides of the string is = Python Tutorial
To remove any characters, whitespaces, or symbols, here is how to type strip() in Python –
strip( ‘characters’ )
Strip (‘chars’) is the parameter that can be optional. If the developer does not pass any argument to the strip() function, it simply removes the whitespaces from the beginning and the end of the string to return the original string.
If the developer specifies a set of characters as an argument to the strip() function, it removes those characters or symbols from the beginning and the end of the string to return the original string.
Python split() function breaks up a string to return the list of all strings. The programmer can specify the separator to the split() function which helps in splitting the string accordingly. If the programmer does not specify the separator, then the split() function will remove the whitespaces from the beginning and the end of the string by default.
This method is very useful in Python as it helps to break the string into substrings according to the instance of the separator is specified by the programmer. In the case where max split is specified, the returning value will contain the list containing the specified number of elements plus one.
Here’s the syntax of the split() function in Python:
string.split(separator, maxsplit)
A separator is optional here. If it is not provided, the string will split at the whitespaces.
Max split refers to the maximum number of splits. If this value if not provided, then there is no limit on the number of splits.
The output will return a list of strings
Let us check an example of the split() function in Python.
text= ‘Welcome to Great Learning’
# splits at space
print(text.split())
grocery = ‘Milk, Bread, Eggs’
# splits at ‘,’
print(grocery.split(‘, ‘))
# Splits at ‘:’
print(grocery.split(‘:’))
Output
Here’s what the output looks like:
[‘Welcome’, ‘to’, ‘Great’, ‘Learning’]
[‘Milk’, ‘Bread’, ‘Eggs’]
[‘Milk, Bread, Eggs’]
Python strip() function is primarily used to remove whitespaces from the start and the end of a string. For example,
Str1=” Hello, Learners”
print(str1.strip())
Output : Hello, Learners
In the above example, we used string with parameter characters. In the output, the strip() method returns the string by removing the specified character at the beginning and the end of that string.
Source: GreatLearning Blog
