Python String rstrip()
Method
The rstrip() method in Python is used to remove trailing characters (characters at the end) from a string. By default, it removes any whitespace characters (like space, tab, or newline) from the right side of the string.
Syntax
string.rstrip([chars])
Parameters:
chars
(optional) – A string specifying the set of characters to be removed. If omitted, whitespace is removed.
Returns:
- A copy of the string with trailing characters removed.
Example 1: Remove Trailing Whitespace
text = "Hello World "
result = text.rstrip()
print(result)
Hello World
Example 2: Remove Specific Trailing Characters
text = "hello!!!"
result = text.rstrip("!")
print(result)
hello
Use Case: Cleaning Up User Input
You can use rstrip()
to clean up strings where extra characters are present at the end — for example, when reading data from a file:
line = "data123***\n"
cleaned = line.rstrip("*\n")
print(cleaned)
data123
Difference Between rstrip()
, lstrip()
, and strip()
rstrip()
– removes from the right endlstrip()
– removes from the left endstrip()
– removes from both ends
Common Mistake
- Note:
rstrip()
removes characters as a set, not a sequence. For example,rstrip("!d")
removes any combination of!
ord
until it finds a character not in the set.
Interview Tip
Use rstrip()
when working with file lines or logs where trailing newlines or specific characters need to be stripped safely.
Summary
rstrip()
removes characters from the right side.- By default, it removes whitespace.
- You can specify a custom set of characters to remove.
- Returns a new string, doesn't change the original.
Practice Problem
Write a program to remove all trailing dollar signs '$'
from a user-input string.
user_input = input("Enter a string with trailing $: ")
print("Cleaned:", user_input.rstrip("$"))