CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaregex
aaaaa
aaaaa

Reputation: 13

java split - problem with space

 String[] t = a.slowa("a. R; er,  we p.");
   for (String w : t)
    System.out.println(w);
  }
 //...
  public String[] slowa(String s) {
   return s.split(" |\\.|,|\\;");
  }

output:

a

R

er


we
p

Why spaces are new world?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1340

Answers (1)

T.J. Crowder
T.J. Crowder

Reputation: 1074949

You've told the String#split function to split on a space or a dot or a comma or a semicolon. So that's what it's done:

"a. R; er,  we p."
  ^^ ^^  ^^^  ^ ^
  || ||  |||  | |
  || ||  |||  | +--Split here
  || ||  |||  +----And here
  || ||  ||+-------And here
  || ||  |+--------And here
  || ||  +---------And here
  || |+------------And here
  || +-------------And here
  |+---------------And here
  +----------------And here

...because you've used an alternation with no quantifier. What you want is to say split on any of these:

return s.split("[ .,;]+");

That uses a character class ([...]) and a quanitifier (+) so that more than one in a row is treated as a single match. You could also do it with an alternation+quantifier (you have to wrap the alternation in a non-capturing group: "(?: |\\.|,|\\;)+"), but using a character class is cleaner.

Upvotes: 7

Related Questions