python string split example 2.7.2

6 lines of code, no modules to import

x = 'joe fred terry mitch jane betty mary ellen'
while (1==1):
    y = x.find(" ")
    if y==-1: break
    print 'next name ',x[:y]
    x = x[y+1:]

3 lines of code, using the string module. Elegant because the loop definition is overt and evident.

import string

x = 'joe fred terry mitch jane betty mary ellen'
for name in string.split(x):
  print 'next name ',name

Other Examples

1. split a semicolon delimitted string, or any delimiter in a string of fields
2. some string library in python constants
3. search a string (you don’t need the string library), i.e. ‘pos’ or re.search

import string

x = 'joe;fred;terry;mitch;jane;betty;mary;ellen'
for name in string.split(x,';'):
  print 'next name ',name

import string

print "1..",string.printable
print "2..",string.uppercase
print "3..",string.letters
print "4..",string.digits
print "5..",string.punctuation

x='joe,john'
print x.index('john')
# this yields the integer '4'
print x[4:]
# this would print john, or the rest of the string which is here john