[Tut] Python | Split String Multiple Whitespaces

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[Tut] Python | Split String Multiple Whitespaces - xSicKxBot - 12-06-2022

Python | Split String Multiple Whitespaces

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Summary: The most efficient way to split a string using multiple whitespaces is to use the

Code:
split

function like so

Code:
given_string.split()

. An alternate approach is to use different functions of the regex package to split the string at multiple whitespaces.

[b]Minimal Example:[/b]

Code:
import re text = "mouse\nsnake\teagle human"
# Method 1
print(text.split()) # Method 2
res = re.split("\s+", text)
print(res) # Method 3
res = re.sub(r'\s+', ',', text).split(',')
print(res) # Method 4
print(re.findall(r'\S+', text)) # ['mouse', 'snake', 'eagle', 'human']

[b]Problem Formulation[/b]

Problem: Given a string. How will you split the string using multiple whitespaces?

[b]Example[/b]

Code:
# Input
text = "abc\nlmn\tpqr xyz\rmno"
# Output
['abc', 'lmn', 'pqr', 'xyz', 'mno']

There are numerous ways of solving the given problem. So, without further ado, let us dive into the solutions.

Method 1: Using Regex

The best way to deal with multiple delimiters is to use the flexibility of the regular expressions library. There are different functions available in the regex library that you can use to split the given string. Let’s go through each one by one.

[b]1.1 Using re.split[/b]

The

Code:
re.split(pattern, string)

method matches all occurrences of the

Code:
pattern

in the

Code:
string

and divides the string along the matches resulting in a list of strings between the matches. For example,

Code:
re.split('a', 'bbabbbab')

results in the list of strings

Code:
['bb', 'bbb', 'b']

Recommended Read: [b]Python Regex Split.[/b]

Approach: To split the string using multiple whitespace characters use

Code:
re.split("\s+", text)

where

Code:
\s

is the matching pattern and it represents a special sequence that returns a match whenever it finds any whitespace character and splits the string.

Code:

Code:
import re
text = "abc\nlmn\tpqr xyz\rmno"
res = re.split("\s+", text)
print(res) # ['abc', 'lmn', 'pqr', 'xyz', 'mno']

[b]1.2 Using re.findall[/b]

The

Code:
re.findall(pattern, string)

method scans the

Code:
string

from left to right, searching for all non-overlapping matches of the

Code:
pattern

. It returns a list of strings in the matching order when scanning the string from left to right.

Recommended Read: Python re.findall() – Everything You Need to Know

Code:

Code:
import re text = "abc\nlmn\tpqr xyz\rmno"
print(re.findall(r'\S+', text))

Explanation: In the expression, i.e.,

Code:
re.findall(r"\S'+", text)

, all occurrences of characters except whitespaces are found and stored in a list. Here,

Code:
\S+

returns a match whenever the string contains one or more occurrences of normal characters (characters from a to Z, digits from 0-9, etc. However, not the whitespaces are considered).

[b]1.3 Using re.sub[/b]

The regex function

Code:
re.sub(P, R, S)

replaces all occurrences of the pattern

Code:
P

with the replacement

Code:
R

in string

Code:
S

. It returns a new string. For example, if you call

Code:
re.sub('a', 'b', 'aabb')

, the result will be the new string

Code:
'bbbb'

with all characters

Code:
'a'

replaced by

Code:
'b'

.

Aprroach: Use the

Code:
re.sub

method to replace all occurrences of whitespace characters in the given string with a comma. Thus, the string will now have commas instead of whitespace characters and you can simply split it using a normal string split method by passing comma as the delimiter.

Code:

Code:
import re
text = "abc\nlmn\tpqr xyz\rmno"
res = re.sub(r'\s+', ',', text).split(',')
print(res) # ['abc', 'lmn', 'pqr', 'xyz', 'mno']

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Method 2: Using split()

By default the

Code:
split

function splits a given string at whitespaces. Meaning, if you do not pass any delimiter to the split function then the string will be split at whitespaces. You can use this default property of the split function and successfully split the given string at multiple whitespaces just by using the

Code:
split()

function.

Code:

Code:
text = "abc\nlmn\tpqr xyz\rmno"
print(text.split())
# ['abc', 'lmn', 'pqr', 'xyz', 'mno']

Recommended Digest: Python String split()

Conclusion

We have successfully solved the given problem using different approaches. Simply using split could do the job for you. However, feel free to explore and try out the other options mentioned above. I hope this article helped you in your Python coding journey. Please subscribe and stay tuned for more interesting articles.

Happy Pythoning!

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