[Tut] A Comprehensive Guide to maxsplit in Python

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[Tut] A Comprehensive Guide to maxsplit in Python - xSicKxBot - 12-10-2022

A Comprehensive Guide to maxsplit in Python

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Summary:

Code:
maxsplit

is one of the optional parameters used in the

Code:
split()

function. If maxsplit is specified within the

Code:
split

function, then the maximum number of splits done will be given by the specified maxsplit. Thus, the list will have at most

Code:
maxsplit + 1

elements. If maxsplit is not specified or set to

Code:
-1

, then there is no limit on the number of splits (all the possible splits are made).

[b]Minimal Example[/b]

Code:
cols = 'Red, Black, White, Yellow, Pink' # Maxsplit 0
print(cols.split(', ', 0))
# ['Red, Black, White, Yellow, Pink'] # Maxsplit 1
print(cols.split(', ', 1))
# ['Red', 'Black, White, Yellow, Pink'] # Maxsplit 3
print(cols.split(', ', 3))
# ['Red', 'Black', 'White', 'Yellow, Pink'] # Maxsplit 5
print(cols.split(', ', 5))
# ['Red', 'Black', 'White', 'Yellow', 'Pink']

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn everything you need to know about

Code:
maxsplit

in Python.

[b]What is Maxsplit Anyways?[/b]

Before you understand what maxsplit does, it is important to understand what the

Code:
split

function does. The

Code:
split()

function in Python splits the string at a given separator and returns a split list of substrings.

Syntax and Explanation:

Code:
str.split(sep = None, maxsplit = -1)

maxsplit is an optional parameter that defines the maximum number of splits (the list will have at most maxsplit + 1 elements). If maxsplit is not provided or defined as -1, then there is no limit on the number of splits (all the possible splits get made).

Related Read: Python String split()

[b]How Many Elements will The List Contain when Maxsplit is Specified?[/b]

When the maxsplit is specified, the list will have a maximum of

Code:
maxsplit + 1

items. Look at the following examples to understand this better.

Code:
text = 'Python Java C Ruby' # Example 1
print(text.split(' ', 0))
# ['Python Java C Ruby'] # Example 2
print(text.split(' ', 2))
# ['Python', 'Java', 'C Ruby'] # Example 3
print(text.split(' ', -1))
# ['Python', 'Java', 'C', 'Ruby']

Explanation: In the first example, the

Code:
maxsplit

gets set to . Hence the list will have a maximum of one item. In the second example, maxsplit is set to

Code:
2

, therefore the resultant list will have 2+1 = 3 items. Note that in the third example, maxsplit gets specified as

Code:
-1

; hence by default all the possible splits have been made.

[b]Will the split() Function Work if You Don’t Specify Any [b]Parameter?[/b][/b]

Example:

Code:
txt = 'Welcome to the world of Python'
print(txt.split())
# ['Welcome', 'to', 'the', 'world', 'of', 'Python']

The

Code:
split()

function works perfectly fine even when no arguments are specified. In the above example, no separator and no maxsplit has been specified. It takes the default separator (space) to split the string. By default, the maxsplit value is

Code:
-1

. So the string gets split wherever a space is found. Meaning the maximum number of splits will be performed.

[b]Split a List up to a Maximum Number of Elements[/b]

Problem: Given a list; How will you split the list up to a maximum number of elements?

Example: Let’s visualize the problem with a real problem asked in StackOverflow.

[Image: image-132.png]

source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58952417/split-a-list-up-to-a-maximum-number-of-elements

Discussion: The question essentially requires you to split the first and the second item/row into 7 columns such that the expected output resembles the following:

Code:
[['6697', '1100.0', '90.0', '0.0', '0.0', '6609', '!'], ['701', '0.0', '0.0', '83.9', '1.5', '000', '!AFR-AHS IndHS-AFR']]

Solution:

Code:
rot = ['6697 1100.0 90.0 0.0 0.0 6609 !', '701 0.0 0.0 83.9 1.5 000 !AFR-AHS IndHS-AFR'] for i in range(len(rot)): rot[i] = rot[i].split(maxsplit=6) print(rot) # [['6697', '1100.0', '90.0', '0.0', '0.0', '6609', '!'], ['701', '0.0', '0.0', '83.9', '1.5', '000', '!AFR-AHS IndHS-AFR']]

Explanation: Use the

Code:
split()

method and specify the maxsplit argument as the maximum number of elements in the list that you want to group. In this case, you need seven splits. Hence, the maxsplit can be set to 6 to achieve the final output.

[b]Exercise[/b]

Given:
text = “abc_kjh_olp_xyz”
Challenge: Split the given string only at the first occurrence of the underscore “_”
Expected Output:
[‘abc’, ‘kjh_olp_xyz’]

Solution

Code:
text = "abc_kjh_olp_xyz"
print(text.split("_", maxsplit=1))

Related Read: Python Split String at First Occurrence

Conclusion

That was all about the maxsplit parameter from the split() function in Python. I hope this article helped you to gain an in-depth insight into the maxsplit parameter. Please subscribe and stay tuned for more interesting articles! Happy coding.

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