public static String stripLeading(final String string, final char ch) {
    //// Preconditons
    if (string == null)
      throw new InvalidParameterException("string cannot be null");
    
    int index = 0;
    final int string_length = string.length();
    if (string_length == 0)
      return string;
    while (true) {
      if (string.charAt(index) != ch)
        break;
      else if (++index >= string_length)
        break;
    }
    return string.substring(index);
  }