Python String isspace() and its application

Last Updated : 16 Nov, 2017

In Python, isspace() is a built-in method used for string handling. The isspace() methods returns “True” if all characters in the string are whitespace characters, Otherwise, It returns “False”.
This function is used to check if the argument contains all whitespace characters such as :

‘ ‘ – Space
‘\t’ – Horizontal tab
‘\n’ – Newline
‘\v’ – Vertical tab
‘\f’ – Feed
‘\r’ – Carriage return

Syntax :

string.isspace()
Parameters:
isspace() does not take any parameters
Returns :
1.True- If all characters in the string are whitespace characters.
2.False- If the string contains 1 or more non-whitespace characters.

Examples:

Input : string = 'Geeksforgeeks'
Output : False

Input : string = '\n \n \n'
Output : True

Input : string = 'Geeks\nFor\nGeeks'
Output : False

# Python code for implementation of isspace() 
   
# checking for whitespace characters 
string = 'Geeksforgeeks'
  
print(string.isspace()) 
   
# checking if \n is a whitespace character 
string = '\n \n \n'
  
print(string.isspace()) 
  
string = 'Geeks\nfor\ngeeks'
print( string.isspace()) 

Output:

False
True
False

Application

Given a string in python, count number of whitespace characters in the string.
Example :

Input : string = 'My name is Ayush'
Output : 3

Input : string = 'My name is \n\n\n\n\nAyush'
Output : 8

Algorithm
1. Traverse the given string character by character upto its length, check if character is a whitespace character.
2. If it is a whitespace character, increment the counter by 1, else traverse to the next character.
3. Print the value of the counter.

# Python implementation to count whitespace characters in a string 
# Given string 
# Initialising the counter to 0 
string = 'My name is Ayush'
count=0
   
# Iterating the string and checking for whitespace characters 
# Incrementing the counter if a whitespace character is found 
# Finally printing the count 
for a in string: 
    if (a.isspace()) == True: 
        count+=1
print(count) 
  
string = 'My name is \n\n\n\n\nAyush'
count = 0
for a in string: 
    if (a.isspace()) == True: 
        count+=1
print(count) 

Output:

3
8

Attention geek! Strengthen your foundations with the Python Programming Foundation Course and learn the basics.

To begin with, your interview preparations Enhance your Data Structures concepts with the Python DS Course.

My Personal Notes

Related Articles