When parsing a string, we may encounter a situation in which we might have extra whitespaces or characters that are unnecessary and we would want to remove them. The Python stripping functions are used to tackle this problem. They are useful and convenient in such situations. Python language provides 3 types of stripping functions. One of them being the Python rstrip() function. In this article, we will learn more about the Python rstrip() string method, its applications, and examples.
Definition
- Python rstrip() function is used to return a new string by removing the trailing characters (based on the argument passed) from the input string.
- The Python rstrip() string method returns a copy of the string by removing all the characters (specified in the argument) from the right end of the input string.
rstrip() Syntax
Syntax followed by the rstrip() function is:
string.rstrip([chars])
rstrip() Parameters
The rstrip() function accepts a single parameter, which is also an optional parameter.
- chars (Optional) – a string specifying the set of trailing characters to be removed from the input string
Note – If the chars parameter is not specified, the rightmost whitespaces of the string are eliminated. i.e. whitespaces are removed by default.
The whitespaces in Python are:
- ‘ ‘ – Space
- ‘\t’ – Horizontal tab
- ‘\v’ – Vertical tab
- ‘\n’ – Newline
- ‘\r’ – Carriage return
- ‘\f’ – Feed
Return value from rstrip()
The rstrip() function returns a duplicate of the string with the trailing characters removed.
Until the first mismatch, all combinations of characters in the chars parameter are eliminated from the string’s right side.
Example 1: Working of rstrip()
Example
# Python program to illustrate rstrip()
# trailing whitespaces removed
txt = '  Good Morning  '
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New string:', txt.rstrip())
print('')
# 'm' trailing character not removed
txt = 'Python Programming'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New string:', txt.rstrip('m'))
print('')
# 'ing' trailing character removed
txt = 'Python Programming'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New string:', txt.rstrip('ing'))
Output
Original string:Â Â Â Good Morning
New string:Â Â Â Good Morning
Original string: Python Programming
New string: Python Programming
Original string: Python Programming
New string: Python Programm
Example 2: How does rstrip() work?
As illustrated below, you can specify one or more characters as a string to be removed from the string in any sequence.
Example
# Python program to illustrate rstrip()
txt = '123486491212321'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New string:', txt.rstrip('123'))
print('')
txt = '@$^*@@&&'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New string:', txt.rstrip('&@'))
print('')
txt = 'abcabcabcabc'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New string:', txt.rstrip('cb'))
Output
Original string: 123486491212321
New string: 12348649
Original string: @$^*@@&&
New string: @$^*
Original string: abcabcabcabc
New string: abcabcabca
We can define our own characters to be removed. For example, txt.rstrip(‘123’) removes all the trailing characters ‘1’, ‘2’, and ‘3’ from the string in any order of their occurrences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is rstrip in Python and why is it used?
When parsing a string, we may encounter a situation in which we might have extra whitespaces or characters that are unnecessary and we would want to remove them. Python rstrip() function is used to return a new string by removing the trailing characters (based on the argument passed) from the input string.
Q2. What are lstrip and rstrip in Python?
Python language provides 3 types of stripping functions. Two of them being Python rstrip() and lstrip() function.
- Python rstrip() – removes all trailing whitespaces or custom strings specified as arguments to the function.
- Python lstrip() –Â removes all leading whitespaces or custom strings specified as arguments to the function.
Example
txt = '***Hello***'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New rstrip string:', txt.rstrip('*'))
print('New lstrip string:', txt.lstrip('*'))
print('')
txt = 'www.PythonProgram.com/'
print('Original string:', txt)
print('New rstrip string:', txt.rstrip('com/'))
print('New lstrip string:', txt.lstrip('w'))
Output
Original string: ***Hello***
New rstrip string: ***Hello
New lstrip string: Hello***
Original string: www.PythonProgram.com/
New rstrip string: www.PythonProgram.
New lstrip string: .PythonProgram.com/
Q3. What does split() do in Python?
The split() method splits a string at the specified separator and returns a list of strings. If no separator is supplied, any whitespace string is used.
Syntax:
string.split(separator, maxsplit)
Example
txt = 'Car, Bus, Plane, Boat, Cycle, Bike'
# splits at space
print(txt.split())
# maxsplit : 3
print(txt.split(',', 3))
Output
['Car,', 'Bus,', 'Plane,', 'Boat,', 'Cycle,', 'Bike']
['Car', ' Bus', ' Plane', ' Boat, Cycle, Bike']
Q4. What are max and min in Python?
- Python max() – The Python max() function takes an input and returns the item with the highest value in that iterable. If the argument passed is a string, then alphabetically the largest value is been displayed. When multiple iterables are provided as parameters, the greatest value of the list among the other list items is returned.
- Python min() – Python min() built-in function is used to return the smallest item from the passed iterable objects. If the argument passed is a string, then alphabetically the smallest value is been displayed. It can also be used to determine the smallest object with respect to two or more parameters.
Example
num_list = [4, 6, 9, 2, 0, -3, -5]
print('Number list:', num_list)
print('Largest number is:', max(num_list))
print('Smallest number is:', min(num_list))
print('')
cars = ['Audi', 'Jaguar', 'Ferrari', 'Volvo', 'BMW']
print('Cars list:', cars)
print('Largest string is:', max(cars))
print('Smallest string is:', min(cars))
Output
Number list: [4, 6, 9, 2, 0, -3, -5]
Largest number is: 9
Smallest number is: -5
Cars list: ['Audi', 'Jaguar', 'Ferrari', 'Volvo', 'BMW']
Largest string is: Volvo
Smallest string is: Audi
Q5. How do you find the minimum of a list in Python?
To find out the minimum value in a list, we use the Python min() function. This function returns the smallest value compared to other values in the list. If the list contains string values, then alphabetically smallest letter is compared and returned accordingly.
Example
num_list = [45, 734, 72, 19, 69, 28, 59]
print('Number list:', num_list)
print('Smallest number is:', min(num_list))
print('')
food = ['Cake', 'Bread', 'Apple', 'Milk', 'Tea']
print('Cars list:', food)
print('Smallest string is:', min(food))
Output
Number list: [45, 734, 72, 19, 69, 28, 59]
Smallest number is: 19
Cars list: ['Cake', 'Bread', 'Apple', 'Milk', 'Tea']
Smallest string is: Apple
Leave a Reply