str.startswith with a list of strings to test for

Solution 1:

str.startswith allows you to supply a tuple of strings to test for:

if link.lower().startswith(("js", "catalog", "script", "katalog")):

From the docs:

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

Return True if string starts with the prefix, otherwise return False. prefix can also be a tuple of prefixes to look for.

Below is a demonstration:

>>> "abcde".startswith(("xyz", "abc"))
True
>>> prefixes = ["xyz", "abc"]
>>> "abcde".startswith(tuple(prefixes)) # You must use a tuple though
True
>>>

Solution 2:

You can also use any(), map() like so:

if any(map(l.startswith, x)):
    pass # Do something

Or alternatively, using a generator expression:

if any(l.startswith(s) for s in x)
    pass # Do something