As the title explains the query
Can somebody please explain the behavior of following two outputs.
"".split(",").length
gives output
1
where as
",".split(",").length
gives output
0
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You should have looked up and read the javadoc before you asked this question.Stephen C– Stephen C2013-04-25 13:52:26 +00:00Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 13:52
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How does this get 5 upvotes? No effort was done.Sotirios Delimanolis– Sotirios Delimanolis2013-04-25 13:58:50 +00:00Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 13:58
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3@SotiriosDelimanolis How did the answer get +15? ;-)Duncan Jones– Duncan Jones2013-04-25 14:00:51 +00:00Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 14:00
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1@DuncanJones SO is generous sometimes.Sotirios Delimanolis– Sotirios Delimanolis2013-04-25 14:08:37 +00:00Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 14:08
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2 Answers
In the first case, the original string is returned, because the separator is not found.
From the API docs:
If the expression does not match any part of the input then the resulting array has just one element, namely this string.
6 Comments
Stephen C
Who would have guessed? The javadoc has the answer!
Duncan Jones
@StephenC To be slightly fair, the comment is only mentioned in the
String.split(String regex, int limit) variant.Stephen C
@DuncanJones - But I bet that the
split(String regex) version says "see the other variant for details"!
Sotirios Delimanolis
Trailing empty strings are therefore not included in the resulting array. is part of the String#split(String) method. Not being fair. And Stephen is correct ^. This method works as if by invoking the two-argument split method... 
Andy Thomas
@DuncanJones - True, though that is linked indirectly through the single-argument method's comment: "This method works as if by invoking the two-argument split method ."
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http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/String.html#split(java.lang.String,%20int)
Trailing empty strings are discarded.
Try:
"Foo,".split(",").length // should be 1
",foo".split(",").length // should be 1
