Python - Regex split()

re.split() method in Python is generally used to split a string by a specified pattern. Its working is similar to the standard split() function but adds more functionality. Let’s start with a simple example of re.split() method:

['Geeks', 'for', 'Geeks']

Syntax of re.split() method

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

Parameters:

• pattern (required): This regular expression pattern that defines where the string should be split.
• string (required): This input string to be split based on the given pattern.
• maxsplit (optional, default is 0): This maximum number of splits to perform; 0 means no limit.

Return Type: This re.split() method returns a list of strings.

Examples of python regex split() function

Splitting a String by Comma in Python

re.split() function from the re module is used when you need more flexibility, such as handling multiple spaces or other delimiters.

['Geeks', 'for', 'Geeks']

Explanation:

• This regex \W+ splits the string at non-word characters.
• Since there are none in the sentence, it returns a list of words.

Splitting Strings with a Maximum Number of Splits

We can use re.split() from the re module to split a string with a regular expression and specify a maximum number of splits using the maxsplit parameter.

['Geeks', 'for', 'Geeks']

Explanation:

• This splits the string s at spaces, limiting the splits to a maximum of 2.

Splitting a String with Capturing Groups

This splits the string at the specified delimiters (comma and semicolon), but because of the capturing group, the delimiters themselves are retained in the output list.