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Java String startsWith() Method with Example

Java String startsWith() Method: Here, we are going to learn about the startsWith() Method of Java with example.
Submitted by IncludeHelp, on February 08, 2019

String startsWith() Method

startsWith() method is a String class method, it is used to check whether a given string starts with specific character sequences or not.

If a string starts with given character sequences – startsWith() method returns true, if a string does not start with the given character sequences – startsWith() method returns false.

Syntax:

    boolean String_object.startsWith(character_sequence);

Here,

• String_object is the main string in which we have to check whether it starts with given character_sequence or not.
• character_sequence is the set of character to be checked.

Example:

    Input:
    str = "Hello world!"
    Function call:
    str.startsWith("Hello");
    Output:
    true

    Input:
    str = "IncludeHelp"
    Function call:
    str.startsWith("inc");
    Output:
    false

Code:

public class Main
{
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String str1 = "Hello world!";
        String str2 = "IncludeHelp";
        
        System.out.println(str1.startsWith("Hello"));
        System.out.println(str1.startsWith("inc"));
        
        //checking through the conditions
        if(str1.startsWith("Hello")){
            System.out.println(str1 + " starts with Hello" );
        }
        else{
            System.out.println(str1 + " does not start with Hello" );
        }
        //note: method is case sensitive
        if(str2.startsWith("inc")){
            System.out.println(str2 + " starts with inc" );
        }
        else{
            System.out.println(str2 + " does not start with inc" );
        }        
    }
}

Output

true
false
Hello world! starts with Hello
IncludeHelp does not start with inc