What does the strip() method do to a string?

The strip() method is designed to remove any leading (spaces at the start) and trailing (spaces at the end) whitespace characters from a string. This means that if there are any spaces, tabs, or newline characters before the first character or after the last character, they will be eliminated, leaving the content of the string intact.

This feature is particularly useful for cleaning up user input or processing text data where extra spaces might inadvertently affect the outcome. For instance, if a user accidentally adds spaces before or after their input, using the strip() method ensures that these do not interfere with string comparisons or data processing tasks.