Remove First or Last Word From String Python

In Python, you can use various string manipulation techniques to remove the first or the last word from a string. Here are a few approaches:

Using the split() and join() methods

The split() function is a built-in function in Python that splits a string into a list of substrings based on a specified delimiter. And, The join() function is a built-in function that concatenates elements of an iterable,

we can effectively remove the first or the last word from a given string.

Remove the First Word From the String

Here is an example:

string = "Hello World" # String

words = string.split() # Split the string

new_string = ' '.join(words[1:]) # Join the words

print(new_string)

Output:

Hello

Here's an explanation of the code in a step-by-step:

1. Initialize the string
2. Split the string into a list of words
3. Create a new string by joining the words starting from the second word
4. Print the new string

Remove the last word from the string

To remove the last word, we'll join the words excluding the last word using this code ' '.join(words[:-1]). See the example:

string = "Hello World"

words = string.split()

new_string = ' '.join(words[:-1]) # Join the words excluding the last word

print(new_string)

Output:

Hello

Using the find() and string slicing

In Python, find() is a built-in string method that allows you to search for a substring within a string. It returns the index of the first occurrence of the substring if found or -1 if the substring is not present.

Remove the first word from the string

string = "Hello World"

space_index = string.find(' ') # Find the index of the first space character

new_string = string[space_index+1:] # Extract a slice of the string

print(new_string)

In the code above, we:

1. Find the index of the first space character
2. Extract a slice of the string starting from the character after the space

Output:

World

Remove the last word from the string

string = "Hello World"

space_index = string.rfind(' ') # Find the index of the last space character

new_string = string[:space_index]

print(new_string)

In this example, we extract a slice of the string from the start to the character before the last space.

Output:

Hello

Using regular expressions (regex)

Using regular expressions, we can also remove the first or last word from the string. Regular expressions, commonly called "regex" or "regexp," are powerful tools for pattern matching and text manipulation.

Remove the first Word from the string

import re

string = "Hello World"

new_string = re.sub(r'^\w+\s', '', string)

print(new_string)

Output:

World

The line re.sub(r'^\w+\s', '', string) uses the re.sub() function from the re module in Python to substitute a pattern with a replacement in a given string.

The regular expression pattern r'^\w+\s' matches a word followed by a whitespace character at the beginning of a string.

Remove the last word from the string

import re

string = "Hello World"

new_string = re.sub(r'\s\w+$', '', string)

print(new_string)

Output:

Hello

Here, the regular expression pattern r'\s\w+$' matches a whitespace character followed by a word at the end of a string.

Conclusion

In conclusion, removing the first or last word from a string in Python can be achieved using various string manipulation techniques.

Whether you split the string into words, utilize string slicing, or employ regular expressions, the goal remains: to extract and reconstruct the desired portion without the targeted word.

If you need to extract the first, second, or last word from a string, refer to the resource  Get First, Second, Last word in String.