How to split a string in Python (in 5 ways)

In this tutorial we will learn how to split a string in Python . Python string provides 5 built-in methods to split a string in Python . They are as follows –

• Python string split() method
• Python string rsplit() method
• Python string partition() method
• Python string rpartition() method
• Python string splitlines() method

Let us have a look about all this methods with examples –

Python String split() method

It returns a list of words in the string separated by a given delimiter .

Syntax of split() method

string.split([sep[,maxsplit]])

Parameters of split() method

• sep = Optional . It is a string based on which the given string will be separated . Default value is 1 whitespace (" ")
• maxsplit = Optional . It is a integer number specifying maximum no of split . Default value is -1 which splits all the item .

Return type of split() method

It returns a list .

Examples of Python String split() method

Example 1: Split a string by space Python

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on whitespace
mylist=mystring.split()

print(mylist)

['Python', 'is', 'a', 'popular', 'programming', 'language']

• In the above code first we have declared a string named mystring as "Python is a popular programming language"
• Then we have split the string using split() method .
• As we have not given any parameter in the split() method , so we can see from the output that the string is split base on whitespace .

Example 2: Take a list as input from user in Python

# taking a string input from user
mystring=input("Enter the numbers separated by comma  :")

# split the string based on comma
mylist=mystring.split(",")

print(mylist)

Enter the numbers separated by comma  :1,2,3,4,5
['1', '2', '3', '4', '5']

• In the above code we have taken multiple numbers separated by comma (",") as input from user and stored it in mystring variable .
• Then the string is split by split() method with "," parameter .
• from the output we can see that the string is split based on comma (",")

Example 3:

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on whitespace
mylist=mystring.split(" ",4)

print(mylist)

['Python', 'is', 'a', 'popular', 'programming language']

In the above code as we have given 4 as maxsplit parameter so the returned list contains first 4 words of the string separated by whitespace and the rest part of the string .

Python String rsplit() method

It returns a list of words in the string separated by a given delimiter (starting from right side).

Syntax of rsplit() method

string.rsplit([sep[,maxsplit]])

Parameters of rsplit() method

• sep = Optional . It is a string based on which the given string will be separated . Default value is 1 whitespace (" ")
• maxsplit = Optional . It is a integer number specifying maximum no of split . Default value is -1 which splits all the item .

Return type of rsplit() method

It returns a list .

Examples of Python String rsplit() method

Example 1: Split a string based on whitespaces using rsplit method

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on whitespace
mylist=mystring.rsplit()

print(mylist)

['Python', 'is', 'a', 'popular', 'programming', 'language']

Example 2: Take a list as input from user in Python using rsplit method

# taking a string input from user
mystring=input("Enter the numbers separated by comma  :")

# split the string based on comma
mylist=mystring.rsplit(",")

print(mylist)

Enter the numbers separated by comma  :1,2,3,4,5,6
['1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6']

Example 3:

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on whitespace
mylist=mystring.rsplit(" ",4)

print(mylist)

['Python is', 'a', 'popular', 'programming', 'language']

In the above code we can see that as rsplit() starts splitting from right side so the returned list contains last 4 words separated by whitespace from the string and the rest part of the string .

Python String partition() method

It returns a tuple containing the left part of the string after splitting by the specified separator on its first occurrence , specified separator and the right part of the string .

Syntax of partition() method

string.partition(sep)

Parameters of partition() method

• sep = It is a string based on which the given string will be separated . If the separator is not found then the returned tuple will contain the entire string with two empty strings .

Return type of partition() method

It returns a tuple .

Examples of Python String partition() method

Example 1:

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on first "a"
mytuple=mystring.partition("a")

print(mytuple)

('Python is ', 'a', ' popular programming language')

• In the above code first we have declared a string named mystring as "Python is a popular programming language"
• Then we have applied partition() method on the string .
• From the output we can see that the returned tuple contains 'Python is ' (left part of the string) , 'a' (separator) and ' popular programming language' (right part of the string)

Example 2:

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on first "xyz"
mytuple=mystring.partition("xyz")

print(mytuple)

('Python is a popular programming language', '', '')

In the above code as separator "xyz" is not found in the string so the returned tuple contains the entire string followed by two empty strings .

Python String rpartition() method

It returns a tuple containing the left part of the string after splitting by the specified separator on its first occurrence , specified separator and the right part of the string (starting from right side).

Syntax of rpartition() method

string.rpartition(sep)

Parameters of rpartition() method

• sep = It is a string based on which the given string will be separated . If the separator is not found then the returned tuple will contain two empty strings followed by the entire string .

Return type of rpartition() method

It returns a tuple .

Examples of Python String rpartition() method

Example 1:

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on last "a"
mytuple=mystring.rpartition("a")

print(mytuple)

('Python is a popular programming langu', 'a', 'ge')

• In the above code first we have declared a string named mystring as "Python is a popular programming language"
• Then we have applied partition() method on the string .
• From the output we can see that the returned tuple contains 'Python is a popular programming langu' (left part of the string) , 'a' (separator) and 'ge' (right part of the string)

Example 2:

# declare a string
mystring="Python is a popular programming language"

# split the string based on last "xyz"
mytuple=mystring.rpartition("xyz")

print(mytuple)

('', '', 'Python is a popular programming language')

In the above code as separator "xyz" is not found in the string so the returned tuple contains two empty strings followed by the entire string .

Python String splitlines() method

It returns a list after breaking a string in every line boundary .

Syntax of splitlines() method

string.splitlines([keepends])

Parameters of splitlines() method

• keepends = Optional . It is a boolean . If it is True then line breaks will be included in the split lines otherwise not .Default value is False .

Return type of splitlines() method

It returns a list .

Examples of Python String splitlines() method

Example 1:

# declare a string
mystring='''Python is a popular 
            programming language'''

# split the string based on newline
mylist=mystring.splitlines()

print(mylist)

['Python is a popular ', '            programming language']

Example 2:

# declare a string
mystring='''Python is a popular 
            programming language'''

# split the string based on newline
mylist=mystring.splitlines(True)

print(mylist)

['Python is a popular \n', '            programming language']

In the above code as keepends parameter is True so from the output we can see that line break ("\n") is included in split lines .

Thank you for reading this Article . If You enjoy it Please Share the article . If you want to say something Please Comment .