How to Split a String by Whitespace Characters in Java

Question

What regex pattern should I use with java.lang.String.split() to divide a String into an Array of substrings using all whitespace characters like space, tab, and newline as delimiters?

String[] result = input.split("\\s+");

Answer

In Java, you can easily split a string into an array using various delimiters, including whitespace characters such as spaces, tabs, and newlines. The regex pattern used in the `String.split()` method is crucial for achieving this separation.

String[] substrings = input.split("\\s+"); // Splits input at all whitespace occurrences.

Causes

  • Understanding the complexities of whitespace characters in text processing.
  • Creating a unified regex pattern that captures all whitespace variants.

Solutions

  • Utilize the regex pattern `\s+` in `String.split()` method.
  • The `\s` matches any whitespace character (space, tab, line feed, etc.) and `+` indicates one or more occurrences.

Common Mistakes

Mistake: Using a single whitespace character as a delimiter.

Solution: Use the regex pattern `\s+` instead of spaces to handle multiple whitespace characters.

Mistake: Forgetting to escape backslashes in regex expressions.

Solution: Use double backslashes `\\` in Java strings to ensure correct regex parsing.

Helpers

  • Java String split
  • regex whitespace delimiter
  • Java split string
  • String.split regex
  • whitespace characters Java

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