String#chop

str.chop -> new_string

The chop method returns a new string with the last character removed. Unlike chop!, this method doesn’t modify the original string—it creates and returns a copy.

Basic Usage

# Remove last character
"hello".chop     # => "hell"
"ruby!".chop     # => "ruby"
"".chop          # => ""

# Original unchanged
str = "hello"
puts str         # => "hello"
puts str.chop    # => "hell"
puts str         # => "hello" (still "hello")

Practical Examples

Path Handling

# Remove trailing slash
path = "/home/user/"
path.chop  # => "/home/user"

# Ensure no trailing character
url = "https://example.com/"
url.chop   # => "https://example.com"

String Cleanup

# Remove trailing newlines (one character)
"line1\n".chop    # => "line1"
"line1\n\n".chop  # => "line1\n" (only removes one!)

# For more control, use chomp
"line1\n".chomp  # => "line1"

Input Processing

# Clean user input
username = gets.chop
# Unlike chomp, removes ANY trailing character

# Process command arguments
args = "arg1 arg2".chop

CSV Row Processing

# Remove trailing field separator
row = "field1,field2,field3"
row.chop  # => "field1,field2,field3"
# If last char is comma

How It Differs from chomp

# chop removes exactly ONE character
"hello\n".chop   # => "hello" (removes newline)
"hello\n".chomp  # => "hello" (removes newline)

# Different when no newline
"hello".chop    # => "hell" (removes 'o')
"hello".chomp   # => "hello" (no change, no newline)

Edge Cases

# Empty string
"".chop    # => ""

# Single character
"a".chop   # => ""

# Multiple newlines
"a\n\n".chop   # => "a\n" (one newline remains)

With Regex Alternative

# For more control, use regex
"hello".sub(/.$/, '')   # => "hell"
"hello".gsub(/.$/, '')  # => "hell" (if one char)

Performance

# chop is fast and efficient for single char removal
# Creates new string (doesn't modify original)

Use chop when you need to remove exactly one character from the end of a string without modifying the original.

See Also

• String#strip
• String#lstrip
• String#rstrip