How to Unindent Multiline Strings Effectively in Python?

Python's Solution for Unindenting Strings

Multiline strings in Python often face the challenge of global indentation, where every line in the string carries a predefined left indentation. If the string is declared within functions or classes, this indentation can accumulate, complicating the desired output.

Python does not offer a dedicated built-in function for unindenting strings. However, the standard library provides an elegant solution through the textwrap.dedent() function. This function efficiently removes the common indentation from each line of a multiline string.

For instance, consider the following multiline string with a 4-space global indentation:

s = """
    Controller = require 'controller'

    class foo
        view: 'baz'
        class: 'bar'

        constructor: ->
            Controller.mix @
"""

To unindent this string using textwrap.dedent(), simply pass it as the argument, as shown below:

unindented_string = textwrap.dedent(s)

print(unindented_string)

The output will be a neatly unindented string:

Controller = require 'controller'

class foo
    view: 'baz'
    class: 'bar'

    constructor: ->
        Controller.mix @

textwrap.dedent() gracefully handles the unindentation process, ensuring that every line has the desired indentation, regardless of its original placement within the string or the presence of additional indentation within the multiline block.

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