- 1Python String capitalize() – Capitalize First Letter of a String
- 2Python String casefold() – Case-Insensitive String Comparison
- 3Python String center() Method – Center Align a String with Padding
- 4Python String count() Method – Count Substring Occurrences
- 5Python string.encode() – Convert String to Bytes
- 6Python String endswith() – Check if a String Ends with Substring
- 7Python String expandtabs() – Replace Tabs with Spaces
- 8Python String find() – How to Locate Substrings Easily
- 9Python String index() Method – Find Position of a Substring
- 10Python String isalnum() Method – Check Alphanumeric Strings
- 11Python String isalpha() Method – Check for Alphabetic Characters
- 12Python String isascii() Method – Check for ASCII Characters
- 13Python String isdecimal() Method – Check if All Characters Are Decimals
- 14Python String isdigit() Method – Check If a String Has Only Digits
- 15Python String isidentifier() – Check for Valid Identifiers
- 16Python String islower() Method – Check for Lowercase Strings
- 17Python String isnumeric() Method – Check for Numeric Characters
- 18Python String isprintable() Method – Check Printable Characters
- 19Python String isspace() Method – Check for Whitespace Only
- 20Python String istitle() Method – Check for Title Case
- 21Python String isupper() Method – Check for Uppercase Letters
- 22Python String join() Method – Combine Strings Easily
- 23Python String ljust() Method – Left Justify a String with Spaces or Characters
- 24Python String lower() Method – Convert to Lowercase
- 25Python String lstrip() Method – Remove Leading Characters
- 26Python String maketrans() Method – Create Translation Tables
- 27Python String partition() Method – Split into Three Parts
- 28Python String replace() Method – Replace Substrings Easily
- 29Python String rfind() Method – Find Last Occurrence of Substring
- 30Python String rindex() Method – Find Last Occurrence of a Substring
- 31Python String rjust() Method – Right Justify a String
- 32Python String rpartition() Method – Split String from the Right
- 33Python String rsplit() Method – Split from the Right
- 34Python String rstrip() Method – Remove Trailing Characters
- 35Python String split() Method – Split Strings Easily
- 36Python String splitlines() Method – Split String by Line Breaks
- 37Python String startswith() Method – Check If a String Starts With
- 38Python String strip() Method – Remove Spaces from Ends
- 39Python String swapcase() Method – Convert Uppercase to Lowercase and Vice Versa
- 40Python String title() Method – Convert to Title Case
- 41Python String translate() Method – Replace Characters Using Mapping
- 42Python String upper() Method – Convert to Uppercase
- 43Python String zfill() Method – Pad String with Zeros
Python String startswith() Method – Check If a String Starts With
Next Topic ⮕Python String strip() Method – Remove Spaces from Ends
Python String startswith()
Method
The startswith() method in Python is used to check if a string starts with a specific substring (prefix). It returns True
if the string starts with the given value, and False
otherwise.
Syntax
string.startswith(prefix[, start[, end]])
Parameters:
prefix
: The substring you want to check at the beginning.start
(optional): The position to start checking from.end
(optional): The position to stop checking (not included).
Returns:
True
if the string starts with the specified prefix; otherwise,False
.
Example 1: Basic Usage
text = "hello world"
print(text.startswith("hello"))
True
Example 2: Case Sensitivity
print("Python".startswith("py"))
False
The method is case-sensitive.
Example 3: Using Start and End Parameters
msg = "Learn Python Programming"
print(msg.startswith("Python", 6))
True
It starts checking from index 6.
Example 4: Tuple of Prefixes
website = "https://example.com"
print(website.startswith(("http://", "https://")))
True
You can pass a tuple of prefixes to check against multiple options.
Common Use Cases
- Checking if a URL starts with
"https://"
- Filtering strings by prefix (e.g., files starting with
"log_"
) - Text parsing or log filtering
Common Mistakes
- Assuming it's case-insensitive – use
.lower()
or.upper()
to handle case. - Passing an empty string – returns
True
because every string starts with "".
Interview Tip
In interviews, startswith()
is often used in filtering, log analysis, and string-matching problems.
Summary
startswith()
checks if a string starts with a given prefix.- Supports optional
start
andend
positions. - Returns
True
orFalse
. - Is case-sensitive.
Practice Problem
Write a program that reads a filename from the user and checks if it starts with "img_"
.
filename = input("Enter filename: ")
if filename.startswith("img_"):
print("This is an image file.")
else:
print("Not an image file.")