How to Preserve Empty Strings When Splitting a Java String?

Java String Split Excluding Empty Values

When splitting a string using the split() method, empty values that result from the split operation are typically removed from the resulting array. This can lead to unexpected results, especially when working with strings that may contain empty values.

Consider the following code snippet:

String data = "5|6|7||8|9||";
String[] split = data.split("\|");
System.out.println(split.length);

In the above example, the expected output is an array with 8 elements: [5, 6, 7, EMPTY, 8, 9, EMPTY, EMPTY]. However, the actual output is only 6 values, excluding the empty values.

To address this issue and ensure that empty values are included in the resulting array, we can use the overloaded version of the split() method that takes an additional limit parameter set to a negative value.

String[] split = data.split("\|", -1);

By setting the limit parameter to -1, we indicate that there is no limit on the number of times the split pattern is applied. This prevents the default behavior of excluding trailing empty strings from the result array.

The split() method documentation states that if the limit is greater than zero, the pattern will be applied up to that limit and the resulting array will have a length no greater than the limit. If the limit is non-positive, the pattern will be applied as many times as possible and the resulting array can have any length.

It's important to note that the default behavior of excluding trailing empty strings only applies to empty strings that are created as a result of the split operation. If an empty string is already present in the original string, it will still be included in the resulting array.

By understanding the behavior of the split() method and utilizing the limit parameter effectively, we can control the inclusion or exclusion of empty values in the resulting array, ensuring that our splitting operations produce the desired results.

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