The startswith() method returns True if a string starts with the specified prefix(string). If not, it returns False.
Example
message = 'Python is fun' # check if the message starts with Python print(message.startswith('Python')) # Output: True Syntax of String startswith()
The syntax of startswith() is:
str.startswith(prefix[, start[, end]])
startswith() Parameters
startswith() method takes a maximum of three parameters:
- prefix - String or tuple of strings to be checked
- start (optional) - Beginning position where prefix is to be checked within the string.
- end (optional) - Ending position where prefix is to be checked within the string.
startswith() Return Value
startswith() method returns a boolean.
- It returns True if the string starts with the specified prefix.
- It returns False if the string doesn't start with the specified prefix.
Example 1: startswith() Without start and end Parameters
text = "Python is easy to learn." result = text.startswith('is easy') # returns False print(result) result = text.startswith('Python is ') # returns True print(result) result = text.startswith('Python is easy to learn.') # returns True print(result) Output
False True True
Example 2: startswith() With start and end Parameters
text = "Python programming is easy." # start parameter: 7 # 'programming is easy.' string is searched result = text.startswith('programming is', 7) print(result) # start: 7, end: 18 # 'programming' string is searched result = text.startswith('programming is', 7, 18) print(result) result = text.startswith('program', 7, 18) print(result) Output
True False True
Passing Tuple to startswith()
It's possible to pass a tuple of prefixes to the startswith() method in Python.
If the string starts with any item of the tuple, startswith() returns True. If not, it returns False
Example 3: startswith() With Tuple Prefix
text = "programming is easy" result = text.startswith(('python', 'programming')) # prints True print(result) result = text.startswith(('is', 'easy', 'java')) # prints False print(result) # With start and end parameter # 'is easy' string is checked result = text.startswith(('programming', 'easy'), 12, 19) # prints False print(result) Output
True False False
If you need to check if a string ends with the specified suffix, you can use endswith() method in Python.
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