Python String Startswith – How to Test Multiple Values

Problem Formulation: How to Test if String Starts With Any Prefix From an Iterable?

Given a string and multiple string prefixes in an iterable such as a list or a tuple.

How to test whether the string starts with any of the provided prefixes?

Here are three examples:

s = 'hello world'
prefixes = ['hi', 'bye', 'no', 'hello']
# True

s = 'finxter'
prefixes = ['p', 'f', 'fi', 'xt']
# True

s = 'mimi'
prefixes = ['a', 'b', 'c']
# False

Overview Solutions

There are three ways to test if a string starts with any prefix from an iterable of strings:

• s.startswith(tuple(prefixes))
• any(s.startswith(x) for x in prefixes)
• any(map(s.startswith, prefixes))

Let’s dive into each of those next!

Method 1: Pass Tuple of Prefixes

To check if a given string starts with any of multiple prefixes, convert the iterable of prefixes into a tuple and pass it into the string.startswith() method like so: s.startswith(tuple(prefixes)).

The following code checks if the string 'hello world' begins with any of a number of prefixes.

s = 'hello world'
prefixes = ['hi', 'bye', 'no', 'hello']

result = s.startswith(tuple(prefixes))

print(result)
# True

In case you wonder: here’s a more formal overview of the string.startswith() method:

str.startswith(prefix[, start[, end]])

But there’s another elegant solution based on the any() function. Let’s examine this next!

Method 2: Use the any() Function

To check if a given string starts with any of multiple prefixes, you can use the any(iterable) function that returns True if at least one of the values in the iterable evaluates to True. You can check each prefix against the string by using a generator expression like so: any(s.startswith(x) for x in prefixes).

Here’s the same example as before:

s = 'hello world'
prefixes = ['hi', 'bye', 'no', 'hello']

result = any(s.startswith(x) for x in prefixes)

print(result)
# True

The generator expression s.startswith(x) for x in prefixes generates Boolean values until it finds a True value. In this case, it short-circuits the execution and the any() function immediately returns True—a prefix has been found.

You can also use the map() function instead of the generator expression to transform each prefix into a Boolean value:

Method 3: Use the map() Function

The map() function transforms an iterable into a new one by applying a “transformator function” to each element. You can transform each possible prefix string into a Boolean value whether this prefix is indeed a prefix of a given string. The resulting iterable of Boolean values can then be checked for a True value using the any() function like so: any(map(s.startswith, prefixes)).

Here’s the same example as before using this method:

s = 'hello world'
prefixes = ['hi', 'bye', 'no', 'hello']

result = any(map(s.startswith, prefixes))

print(result)
# True

Summary

There are three ways to test if a string starts with any prefix from an iterable of strings:

• s.startswith(tuple(prefixes))
• any(s.startswith(x) for x in prefixes)
• any(map(s.startswith, prefixes))

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