Python String isspace() Method

isspace() method in Python is used to check if all characters in a string are whitespace characters. This includes spaces (' '), tabs (\t), newlines (\n), and other Unicode-defined whitespace characters. This method is particularly helpful when validating input or processing text to ensure that it contains only whitespace characters.

Let's understand this with the help of an example:

s = "   "
print(s.isspace()) 

True

Explanation:

• The string " " contains only whitespace characters (spaces).
• The isspace() method returns True since all characters in the string are whitespace.

Syntax of isspace() method

string.isspace()

Parameters

• The isspace() method does not take any parameters.

Return Type

• Returns True if all characters in the string are whitespace.
• Returns False if the string contains one or more non-whitespace characters or is empty.

String with mixed characters

Let's see what happens when the string contains non-whitespace characters:

s = "Python is fun! "

print(s.isspace())  

False

Explanation:

• The string contains non-whitespace characters ("Python is fun!").
• The presence of these characters causes the method to return False.

String with tabs and newlines

isspace() method considers tabs and newlines as whitespace characters:

s = "\t\n"

print(s.isspace()) 

True

Explanation:

• The string contains only a tab (\t) and a newline (\n), both of which are valid whitespace characters.
• The method returns True.

What happens when the string is empty?

An empty string does not contain any characters, including whitespace.

s = ""
print(s.isspace()) 

False

Explanation:

• The method returns False.