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pythonstringstrip

Strange Python strip() behavior

I don't understand why the strip() function returns the way it does below. I want to strip() the last occurence of Axyx. I got around it by using rstrip('Axyx') but what's the explanation for the following?

>>>"Abcd Efgh Axyx".strip('Axyx')
'bcd Efgh '
Solution

  • The string passed to strip is treated as a bunch of characters, not a string. Thus, strip('Axyx') means "strip occurrences of A, x, or y from either end of the string".

    If you actually want to strip a prefix or suffix, you'd have to write that logic yourself. For example:

    s = 'Abcd Efgh Axyx'
if s.endswith('Axyx'):
    s = s[:-len('Axyx')]