diff --git a/blog_posts/python-trim-whitespace.md b/blog_posts/python-trim-whitespace.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e3618b855 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog_posts/python-trim-whitespace.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: How do I trim whitespace from a string in Python? +type: question +tags: python,string +authors: maciv +cover: blog_images/organizer.jpg +excerpt: Oftentimes you might need to trim whitespace from a string in Python. Learn of three different way to do this in this short guide. +firstSeen: 2021-12-13T05:00:00-04:00 +--- + +When working with Python strings, a pretty common question is how to trim whitespace from a string. Whitespace characters are the space (` `), tab (`\t`), newline (`\n`), and carriage return characters (`\r`). Here are 3 different methods to trim whitespace from a string in Python. + +### Remove leading and trailing whitespace characters + +Use the `str.strip()` method to remove whitespace characters from both the beginning and end of a string. + +```py +' Hello '.strip() # 'Hello' +``` + +### Remove leading whitespace characters + +Leading whitespace characters are the whitespace characters at the start of a string. To remove them, use the `str.lstrip()` method. + +```py +' Hello '.lstrip() # 'Hello ' +``` + +### Remove trailing whitespace characters + +Trailing whitespace characters are the whitespace characters at the end of a string. To remove them, use the `str.rstrip()` method. + +```py +' Hello '.rstrip() # ' Hello' +```