What is the re.split() function in Python?

In this shot, we will discuss the re.split() function in Python.

re.split() in Python

The re.split() function belongs to the Regular Expressions (RE) module in Python. The re.split() function basically specifies strings or a set of strings or patterns that matches it. To use this function, we first need to import the re module.

How re.split() works

The re.split() function splits the given string according to the occurrence of a particular character or pattern. Upon finding the pattern, this function returns the remaining characters from the string in a list.

Syntax


re.split (pattern, string, maxsplit = 0, flags = 0)

Parameters

  • The first parameter, pattern, denotes the string/pattern where the split will take place.

  • The second parameter, string, denotes the string on which the re.split() operation will take place.

  • The third parameter, maxsplit, denotes the number of split operations that should occur.

  • The fourth parameter, flags, helps shorten the code.

Example

flags = re.IGNORECASE ignores case-sensitivity while splitting.

Code

Let’s look at the code snippet below.

# Importing re module
import re
# Given String
s = "I am a human being."
# Performing Split
res_1 = re.split('a', s)
res_2 = re.split('a', s, 1)
# Print Results
print(res_1)
print(res_2)

Explanation

  • In line 2, we import the re module.

  • In line 5, we take a sample string.

  • In line 8, we use the re.split() function to split the given string with respect to the string a.

  • The output is a list of strings that have been split at points where they came across a.

  • The list contains all the strings except a.

  • In line 9, we introduce the maxsplit concept and set it to 1. Therefore, the split only occurs at the first a.

  • In lines 12 and 13, we print the results.

In this way, we can use the re.split() function in Python.