What does :-1 mean in python?
<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
  <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/509211/the-python-slice-notation">The Python Slice Notation</a>  </p>
</blockquote>



<p>I'm trying to port some python code to C, so far so good. However I came across this line and I can't figure out what it means:</p>

<p><code>if message.startswith('&lt;stream:stream'):
      message = message[:-1] + ' /&gt;'</code></p>

<p>I understand that if 'message' starts with '

<p>Would somebody be so kind on explaining what hapends?</p>
