In Python, there is a neat little string function called split() that you can use to extract part of a string. It returns a list of splits in the string.
Extract date string
a_date="2020-01-27" results = a_date.split('-') print("year = " + results[0]) print("month = " + results[1]) print("day = " + results[2])
Output
year = 2020 month = 01 day = 27
Comma-separated string
animals = "monkey, dog, cat, bear, frog" results = animals.split(',') for animal in results: print(animal.strip()) # strip() used to trim spaces.
Output
monkey dog cat bear frog
Split up to N occurrences
You can use the maxsplit parameter to limit the number of splits. The example below will stop splitting after it found the 1st 2 splits.
animals = "monkey, dog, cat, bear, frog" results = animals.split(', ', 2) for animal in results: print(animal) # strip() used to trim spaces.
Output
monkey dog cat, bear, frog
About the author
Xuan Ngo is the founder of OpenWritings.net. He currently lives in Montreal, Canada. He loves to write about programming and open source subjects.