How to check if a string starts with "hello" in Python?

General Discussions
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1

How do I Python check if string starts with a specific substring, such as “hello”? In Bash, I can use:

if [[ "$string" =~ ^hello ]]; then
    do something here
fi

What is the equivalent in Python to check if a string begins with “hello”?

2

Hey All,

So, from my experience, a simple and clean way to python check if string starts with a specific substring like ‘hello’ is by using the startswith() method. It’s really efficient for this kind of task, especially when you need something straightforward."

string = "hello world"
if string.startswith("hello"):
    print("String starts with 'hello'")

This is the go-to method in Python. It checks exactly that, no more and no less.

3

That’s a good approach, @charity-majors. But I’d say another method, especially if you’re working with older Python versions or just prefer slicing, is to use string slicing. It’s a neat trick to python check if string starts with a specific substring like ‘hello’. You basically compare the first five characters directly."

string = "hello world"
if string[:5] == "hello":
    print("String starts with 'hello'")

It’s not just a matter of style but can be a bit more intuitive if you like working with slices.

4

Nice options, both! I personally like to go a step further when the pattern becomes more complex, like when you need to check multiple possibilities. In that case, you can use regular expressions. The re module is a handy way to python check if string starts with a pattern, and it’s super flexible."

import re
string = "hello world"
if re.match("^hello", string):
    print("String starts with 'hello'")

This method works wonders if you’re dealing with dynamic patterns or want more control over the matching process.