In this tutorial, we’ll learn what Python string split() method is and how to properly use it. We’ll go through multiple Python code examples to understand how split method works.
Introduction: Python String split() Method
This method breaks a string and return a list of strings. We can specify from which character/substring, the string should break. If not specified any, then whitespaces will be used.
Syntax of split() Method
string.split(separator(optional), maxSplitNumbers(optional))
- Python string split method takes two arguments.
- First argument is used to specify which character should be used to split the string.
- Second argument specify the number of splits that should be performed.
- Python string split method return a list of substrings after breaking/splitting the main string.
Example 1: split() Method applied on a Python String
print('Python Programming Python Language Programming.'.split('Python')) print('Python Programming Python language'.split()) print('Python Programming'.split('pro')) print('Python-Programming-Language'.split('-')) print('Python3Programming3Python3language'.split('3'))
Output
['', ' Programming ', ' Language Programming.'] ['Python', 'Programming', 'Python', 'language'] ['Python Programming'] ['Python', 'Programming', 'Language'] ['Python', 'Programming', 'Python', 'language']
This is how Python string split method works. You can try it with even more examples to better understand the working of this method.
Example 2: split() Method with MaxSplit
print('a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h'.split(',',3)) print('a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h'.split('-',0)) print('a b c d e f g h'.split(' ',4)) // whitespace separator print('a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h'.split(',',1)) print('a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h'.split('',4)) // empty separator gives error
Output
['a', 'b', 'c', 'd,e,f,g,h'] ['a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h'] ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e f g h'] ['a', 'b,c,d,e,f,g,h'] ValueError: empty separator
So this is how we can limit the number of splits in a string. Splitting starts from left and can be seen in the above examples.
Example 3: Python String split() Method Return Value
val= 'a,bb,c,d,e,f,g,h' returnedVal=val.split(',',4) print(returnedVal)
Output
['a', 'bb', 'c', 'd', 'e,f,g,h']
We can see that Python string split method has returned a list of substrings after splitting the main string. This method uses whitespace as a default separator, if no separator is specified in split method.
Conclusion
To conclude this tutorial, hope you now have a detailed practical understanding of how to properly use Python string split method. I’d be very happy to receive your feedback on this post. Thank you for reading it.