Python string | strip()

Python String strip() is an inbuilt function in the Python programming language that returns a copy of the string with both leading and trailing characters removed (based on the string argument passed). This article will examine the many features and use cases of the strip() method to give you a thorough grasp of how to use it successfully in your Python programs.

Python strip() Method Syntax

Syntax: string.strip([chars])

Parameter: There is only one optional parameter in it. chars – a string specifying the set of characters to be removed. If the optional chars parameter is not given, all leading and trailing whitespaces are removed from the string.

Return Value: Returns a copy of the string with both leading and trailing characters removed.

Purpose of the Python Strip() Function

When a developer wishes to remove characters or whitespaces from the beginning or end of a string, the Strip() function in Python comes in handy. Let’s take a closer look at it: 

• The strip() function assists in removing characters from the beginning or end of a string for characters supplied as arguments to the strip() function ().
• If the string has no whitespaces and the characters argument is not supplied, the string is returned as is.
• It is also beneficial to eliminate whitespaces from the beginning and end of the text.
• If the string contains whitespaces and no character arguments are supplied, the string will be returned after discretizing the whitespaces.

String strip() in Python Example

In Python, the strip() method is used to remove leading and trailing whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, and newlines) from a string. It returns a new string with the whitespace characters removed. The original string remains unchanged.

Example

Python3

my_string = "   Hello, world!   "
stripped_string = my_string.strip()

print(stripped_string)

Output

Hello, world!

Python Stripping String with Strip() function

In this example, we will Python String Trim and we have used a string and we have applied the strip() function with a string and without a string.

Python3

string = """    geeks for geeks    """

# prints the string without stripping
print(string)

# prints the string by removing leading and trailing whitespaces
print(string.strip())

# prints the string by removing geeks
print(string.strip(' geeks'))

Output

    geeks for geeks     
geeks for geeks
for

Python Stripping Specific Character with Strip() Function

In this example, we will Python String Trim and we have used the strip() function to remove a specific set of characters from a string.

Python3

# Python Program to demonstrate use of strip() method

str1 = 'geeks for geeks'
# Print the string without stripping.
print(str1)

# String whose set of characters are to be
# remove from original string at both its ends.
str2 = 'ekgs'

# Print string after stripping str2 from str1 at both its end.
print(str1.strip(str2))

Output

geeks for geeks
 for

Python Removing Whitespaces with Strip() function

In this example, we will Python String Trim and we have used the strip() function to remove the whitespaces from both ends of a string.

Python3

# Python Program to demonstrate use of strip() method without any argument
str1 = """    geeks for geeks    """

# Print the string without stripping.
print(str1)

# Print string after removing all leading
# and trailing whitespaces.
print(str1.strip())

Input

    geeks for geeks     

Output

geeks for geeks

Python Removing NewLine using Strip() Function

In this example, we will Python String Trim and we are using the strip() function to remove the newline characters from a string.

Python3

string = "\nHello, World!\n"
new_string = string.strip()
print(new_string)

Output

Hello, World!

Practical Application

Given a string remove the occurrence of the word “the” from the beginning and the end. we will Python String Trim.

Python

# Python3 program to demonstrate the practical application
# strip()

string = " the King has the largest army in the entire world the"

# strip function works on characters and removes characters till it sees,
# the last or beginning characters mentioned in the function has been removed
print(string.strip(" eht"))

Input

the King has the largest army in the entire world the

Output

King has the largest army in the entire world