Python: Remove the first and last elements from a given string

Last update on May 24 2025 10:46:38 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Remove First and Last Character

Write a Python program to remove the first and last elements from a given string.

Sample Solution-1:

Python Code:

# Define a function 'test' that removes the first and last characters from a string.
def test(input_str):
    # Return the original string if its length is less than 3, otherwise return the string excluding the first and last characters.
    return input_str if len(input_str) < 3 else input_str[1:-1]

# Test the 'test' function with different input strings.
str1 = "PHP"
print("Original string: ", str1)
print("Removing the first and last elements from the said string: ", test(str1))

str2 = "Python"
print("\nOriginal string: ", str2)
print("Removing the first and last elements from the said string: ", test(str2))

str3 = "JavaScript"
print("\nOriginal string: ", str3)
print("Removing the first and last elements from the said string: ", test(str3))

Sample Output:

Original string:  PHP
Removing the first and last elements from the said string:  H

Original string:  Python
Removing the first and last elements from the said string:  ytho

Original string:  JavaScript
Removing the first and last elements from the said string:  avaScrip

Explanation:

Here is a breakdown of the above Python code:

• Test Function (test function):
• The "test()" function is defined to remove the first and last characters from a given string.
• It uses a conditional expression (if-else) to check if the length of the string is less than 3.
• If the length is less than 3, the original string is returned; otherwise, a slice excluding the first and last characters is returned.

Flowchart:

Sample Solution-2:

Python Code:

# Define a function 'test' that removes the first and last characters from a string if the length is greater than 2.
def test(input_str):
    # Use slicing to remove the first and last characters if the length of the string is greater than 2; otherwise, return the original string.
    return input_str[1:-1] if len(input_str) > 2 else input_str

# Test the 'test' function with different input strings.
str1 = "PHP"
print("Original string: ", str1)
print("Removing the first and last elements from the said string: ", test(str1))

str2 = "Python"
print("\nOriginal string: ", str2)
print("Removing the first and last elements from the said string: ", test(str2))

str3 = "JavaScript"
print("\nOriginal string: ", str3)
print("Removing the first and last elements from the said string: ", test(str3))

Sample Output:

Original string:  PHP
Removing the first and last elements from the said string:  H

Original string:  Python
Removing the first and last elements from the said string:  ytho

Original string:  JavaScript
Removing the first and last elements from the said string:  avaScrip

Explanation:

Here is a breakdown of the above Python code:

• Test Function (test function):
• The "test()" function is defined to remove the first and last characters from a given string if the length is greater than 2.
• It uses a conditional expression (if-else) to check if the length of the string is greater than 2.
• If the length is greater than 2, a slice excluding the first and last characters is returned; otherwise, the original string is returned.

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a Python program to remove the first and last characters of a string and return the remaining substring.
• Write a Python program to slice a string to exclude its first and last character.
• Write a Python program to extract the middle portion of a string by removing its first and last characters.
• Write a Python program to truncate a string by deleting the first and last elements and output the result.

Go to:

• Python Basic Exercises Home ↩
• Python Exercises Home ↩

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Python Code Editor:

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