As a Python developer, sooner or later you’ll want to write an application that accepts string input from a user. For example, maybe you want to read a log file that includes line after line of comma-separated values (CSV). Maybe you want to manipulate some text extracted from a web page. Maybe you have a string that includes whitespace characters and want to trim the leading and trailing whitespace.
In order to do any of these things, though, you first need to be able to split strings into individual characters. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at split string into chars python. We’ll start by exploring the built-in string methods for splitting strings and then move on to regular expressions. By the end of this blog post, you should have a pretty good idea about which method is best for splitting strings in your own Python applications.
Method #1: Using the split() method
The easiest way to split Strings in Python is by using the built-in String method called split(). The String split() method breaks up Strings based on specified delimiters. In its simplest form, all you need is a String containing some text and a delimiter character—which can be just about anything you want. We can use the following code to break this String into individual characters:
String.split(‘ ‘) . Now that we know how to use the split() method, let’s talk about some of its advantages and disadvantages. First, let’s consider its advantages:
Advantages:
Easy to use – No need for special characters or regular expressions—just pass in the delimiter as an argument and let the built-in method handle the rest!
Flexible – since there are no special characters or regular expressions involved, you can use just about anything as your delimiter!
Disadvantages:
Limited functionality – Can only splits strings based on a single character or substring—if you want anything more complex than that, you’re out of luck!
Method #2: Using Regular Expressions
If you’re looking for something more powerful than the split() method, regular expressions are your best bet. Regular expressions are special strings that represent a search pattern—basically what we’re looking for in our input text. In order to use them in Python, though, we first need to import the re module using the following import statement: import re
We could break this String into individual characters using regular expressions with code like this: re.findall(“.”, String) . This diagram matches any single character except newline “\n”. So basically, this code is finding every single character in our input string and puts it into a list. You could also use other search patterns like “\w” which matches any alphanumeric character including underscore “_” or “\W” which matches all non-alphanumeric characters excluding underscore “_”.
Advantages:
You could even write your own custom search pattern if none of these meet your needs!
Disadvantages:
More difficult to use – Since regular expressions involve special characters and syntax, they can be tricky for beginners (and even experienced developers!) to get right.
Limited functionality – Like the split() method,regular expressions can only match on a single character or substring—anything more complex than that and you’re out of luck!
Conclusion
As you can see, there are two main ways to go about splitting Strings in Python—using the built-in string method called split() or using regular expressions. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, which should be considered before deciding on which approach is best for your particular situation. Hopefully, this blog post has helped clear things up a bit—Happy coding!