Python 3 – String rstrip() Method

One of the most useful methods for working with strings in Python 3 is the .rstrip() method. This method allows you to remove specific characters or a set of characters from the end of a string. In this article, we’ll go over what the .rstrip() method is and how you can use it in your Python 3 projects.

What is the .rstrip() method?

The .rstrip() method is a built-in Python 3 method that removes any trailing characters from a string. This method takes an optional parameter that specifies which characters to remove. By default, it removes any whitespace characters such as spaces, tabs, and newline characters.

Here’s what the basic syntax of the .rstrip() method looks like:

string.rstrip([characters])

Where string is the string we want to remove characters from and characters is an optional parameter that specifies the character or set of characters to remove. If no parameter is specified, the method will remove any whitespace characters at the end of the string.

Examples of the .rstrip() method

To demonstrate how the .rstrip() method works, let’s take a look at a few examples.

Removing whitespace characters

The most common use of the .rstrip() method is to remove whitespace characters at the end of a string. Here’s an example:

string = "Hello world!   \n"
new_string = string.rstrip()
print(new_string)

In this example, the string variable contains the string “Hello world! \n”. The newline character \n at the end of the string represents a line break, and the spaces before it represent white space characters. The .rstrip() method removes these characters from the end of the string, resulting in the new string “Hello world!” being printed to the console.

Removing specific characters

You can also use the .rstrip() method to remove specific characters from the end of a string. Here’s an example:

string = "Hello world!!!"
new_string = string.rstrip("!")
print(new_string)

In this example, the string variable contains the string “Hello world!!!”. The .rstrip("!") method removes all exclamation points from the end of the string, resulting in the new string “Hello world” being printed to the console.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve gone over what the .rstrip() method is and how you can use it to remove whitespace and specific characters from the end of a string in your Python 3 projects. By using this method, you can easily clean up your strings and make them more presentable. Try it out in your own code and see how it can improve your workflow!