Python supports two split functions methods to explode a string into a list of substrings. There's one in the default class that works on a string, and there's another in the re (Regular Expression) class.
Splitting at a string works very will if you've got a fixed delimiter, typically in a machine generated file of data. You write
inputstring.split(separator)
however, with data that's entered by a user and may well contain multiple spaces as the separator, you would be better advised to write
regex.split(inputstring)
and, yes, the parameters are indeed the other way around.
Here's the result of splitting an address which had multiple spaces in in between the company hame and town, using the string and re classes:
['Techsputer', 'Training,', '', 'Bradford', 'on', 'Avon']
['Techsputer', 'Training,', 'Bradford', 'on', 'Avon']
and you can see the full source code
here (written 2006-11-29)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Y108 - Python - String Handling [324] The backtick operator in Python and Perl - (2005-05-25)
[463] Splitting the difference - (2005-10-13)
[496] Python printf - (2005-11-15)
[560] The fencepost problem - (2006-01-10)
[773] Breaking bread - (2006-06-22)
[903] Pieces of Python - (2006-10-23)
[943] Matching within multiline strings, and ignoring case in regular expressions - (2006-11-25)
[970] String duplication - x in Perl, * in Python and Ruby - (2006-12-07)
[1110] Python - two different splits - (2007-03-15)
[1195] Regular Express Primer - (2007-05-20)
[1517] Python - formatting objects - (2008-01-24)
[1608] Underlining in Perl and Python - the x and * operator in use - (2008-04-12)
[1876] Python Regular Expressions - (2008-11-08)
[2284] Strings as collections in Python - (2009-07-12)
[2406] Pound Sign in Python Program - (2009-09-15)
[2692] Flexible search and replace in Python - (2010-03-25)
[2721] Regular Expressions in Python - (2010-04-14)
[2765] Running operating system commands from your Python program - (2010-05-14)
[2780] Formatted Printing in Python - (2010-05-25)
[2814] Python - splitting and joining strings - (2010-06-16)
[3090] Matching to a string - what if it matches in many possible ways? - (2010-12-17)
[3218] Matching a license plate or product code - Regular Expressions - (2011-03-28)
[3349] Formatting output in Python through str.format - (2011-07-07)
[3468] Python string formatting - the move from % to str.format - (2011-10-08)
[3469] Teaching dilemma - old tricks and techniques, or recent enhancements? - (2011-10-08)
[3796] Backquote, backtic, str and repr in Python - conversion object to string - (2012-07-05)
[3886] Formatting output - why we need to, and first Python example - (2012-10-09)
[4027] Collections in Python - list tuple dict and string. - (2013-03-04)
[4152] Why are bus fares so high? - (2013-08-18)
[4213] Formatting options in Python - (2013-11-16)
[4307] Identifying and clearing denial of service attacks on your Apache server - (2014-09-27)
[4360] Python - comparison of old and new string formatters - (2014-12-22)
[4593] Command line parameter handling in Python via the argparse module - (2015-12-08)
[4595] Python formatting update - including named completions - (2015-12-10)
[4659] Prining a pound sign from Python AND running from the command line at the same time - (2016-03-03)
Some other Articles
Plain Ole nice picturesImproving the historic town of MelkshamPython security - trouble with inputPython collections - mutable and imutableSplitting Pythons in BradfordChristmas in NovemberComing from London to Melksham by train for a courseWhat happened at GeekmasPython and the Magic RoundaboutSludge off the mountain, and Python and PHP