Using String split Method

Sometimes the data in a text file is formatted where each value is separated by a delimiter. The delimiter is simply used to separate the data. One example of a delimiter is a comma (,). If you have data that is separated by a comma, you split up the string at each comma. The comma is not included in the array of data.

String[] split(String del)

This method returns a String array where each element is a substring of this String, which has been split around matches of the given expression del.

In the example below, a space is being used as the delimeter to split the string into substrings of the individual words.

Your Turn

Let's try it in the Java Playground.

• Predict the output of the code.
• Run the code to determine if your prediction is correct.
• Instead of spaces between the words in sentence, change them to commas. Modify the call to split to still separate the String out into the different words.
• Run the code to see if you get the same result.

Using split with Files

When you read data from a file, you can use split to separate out your data into an array. If you had a file with a line of text separated by a comma, you could separate the values into an array as follows.

Resources

• Practice: Evaluate Code Segments that Use the String Method Split
• Practice: Write Code Segments that Use the String Method Split -
• Apply: Meteorite Landing Data Lab