public static String stripLeadingChar(String string,char c){
  if (string.length() > 0) {
    if (string.charAt(0) == c) {
      return string.substring(1);
    }
  }
  return string;
}

public static String stripLeadingChar ( String string , char c ) { if ( string . length ( ) > 0 ) { if ( string . charAt ( 0 ) == c ) { return string . substring ( 1 ) ; } } return string ; }
strips leading char if string starts with one .
