Slicing vs .startswith

[Jeremy Fincher]

Shu-Hsien Sheu <sheu at bu.edu> wrote in message news:<mailman.1064245938.12315.python-list at python.org>...
> For example, which one of the following would be more efficient, or , 
> moreover, more pythonic?
> 
> if aa[:3] == 'abc':
> 
> vs
> 
> if aa.startswith('abc'):

Python is about maintainability, and the latter is significantly more
maintainable than the former; if the string you're checking against
changes in size, using .startswith doesn't require you to change your
sourcecode anywhere else.

Jeremy