Python String startswith() Method

The startswith() method checks if a string starts with the specified prefix. It returns True if the string starts with the specified prefix, and False otherwise.

Syntax

string.startswith(prefix, start, end)

Paremeters

prefix (required): The substring or tuple of substrings to check.

start (optional): Index to start checking from. Default is 0.

end (optional): Index to stop checking (exclusive). Default is length of the string.

Return Value

Returns True if the string starts with the specified prefix.

Returns False otherwise.

Examples

Check if a String Starts With a Specific Prefix

text = "Python is awesome"
print(text.startswith("Python")) # Output: True
print(text.startswith("awesome")) # Output: False

With start Parameter

If you only provide the start parameter, Python checks whether the substring from that index to the end of the string starts with the specified prefix.

text = "Python is awesome"
print(text.startswith("is", 7)) # Output: True

With start and end Parameters

If you provide both the start and end parameter, Python checks whether the substring from the start index up to (but not including) the end index begins with the specified prefix.

text = "Python is awesome"
print(text.startswith("is", 7, 9)) # Output: True
print(text.startswith("is", 7, 8))  # Output; False

The end parameter is exclusive meaning the suffix check doesn’t include the character at the end index.

Tuple of Prefixes

You can provide a tuple of prefixes if you want to check if a string starts with any one of multiple possible prefixes.

text = "Python is awesome"
print(text.startswith(("Java", "Python", "Kotlin"))) # True

Case-Sensitivity

The startswith() method is case-sensitive, meaning it treats uppercase and lowercase letters as distinct characters.

text = "Python is awesome"
print(text.startswith("Python")) # True
print(text.startswith("python")) # False

If you need to check if the string ends with the specified suffix, you can use the endswith() method.