def remove_extra_whitespace(text: str) -> str:
"""
Removes leading/trailing whitespace and collapses multiple
consecutive whitespace characters into a single space.
Python's split() without arguments:
- Splits on any run of whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines)
- Automatically trims leading/trailing whitespace
- Produces a list of clean words
"""
words = text.split() # Efficient O(N) whitespace normalization
return " ".join(words) # Reassemble with single spaces
def main() -> None:
# Input string containing arbitrary whitespace, tabs, and padding
s = " This is a test string with extra spaces. "
# Clean the string using standard string methods
cleaned_string = remove_extra_whitespace(s)
print(cleaned_string)
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
"""
run:
This is a test string with extra spaces.
"""
