Python String strip()

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the Python string strip() method to return a copy of a string with the leading and trailing characters removed.

Introduction to Python string strip() method

The string strip() method returns a copy of a string with the leading and trailing characters removed.

The following shows the syntax of the strip() method:

str.strip([chars])Code language: CSS (css)

The strip() method has one optional argument.

The chars argument is a string that specifies a set of characters which the strip() method will remove from the copy of the str.

If you omit the chars argument or use None, the chars argument will default to whitespace characters. In other words, the strip() will remove leading and trailing whitespace characters from the str.

In Python, the following are whitespace characters:

• ' ' – the space character
• \t – the tab character
• \n – the newline or linefeed character
• \r – the carriage return
• \x0b – the vertical tab. It can be also expressed as \v.
• \x0c – the form feed character that forces a printer to move the next sheet of paper. It’s also expressed as \f.

To get the whitespace characters, you can use the string module like this:

import string
print(string.whitespace)Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Output:

' \t\n\r\x0b\x0c'Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Python string strip() method examples

Let’s take some examples of using the string strip() method.

1) Using the strip() method to remove leading and trailing whitespace

The following example uses the strip() method to return the copy of a string with the leading and trailing whitespace characters removed:

s = '\tHi, how are you?\n '
print(s)

new_s = s.strip()
print(new_s)Code language: PHP (php)

Output:

    Hi, How are you?

Hi, How are you?

In this example, the string s contains a leading tab character and the trailing newline and space characters.

Because we didn’t pass any argument to the strip() method, it returned a copy of the string s with all the leading and trailing whitespace characters removed.

2) Using the strip() method to remove leading and trailing characters

The following example uses the strip() method to return a copy of a string with the leading and trailing characters . and # removed:

heading = '#.....Section 1.2.3 Bug #45.....'
new_heading = heading.strip('.#')

print(new_heading)Code language: PHP (php)

Output:

Section 1.2.3 Bug #45Code language: CSS (css)

Summary

• Use the Python string strip(chars) method to return a copy of a string with the leading and trailing chars removed.
• Use the strip() method without argument to return a copy of a string with both leading and trailing whitespace characters removed.