Split an array of strings into a 2d array of characters

Question

I am trying to split an array of strings into a 2d array of characters from each string

lines = ['abc','123','ggg']
list(lines)
print lines
#['abc','123','ggg']
#nothing changed
#I want [['a','b','c'],['1','2','3'] etc..

Whereas with one string,

print list('lala')
#['l', 'a', 'l', 'a']
#It works!

Thanks

On a side note: what's the use case for this? You can use strings exactly like lists, do you really need to convert them? — GaretJax
– GaretJax, Commented Jan 30, 2012 at 20:28

Andrew Clark · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-30 20:26:23Z

7

>>> map(list, lines)
[['a', 'b', 'c'], ['1', '2', '3'], ['g', 'g', 'g']]

>>> [list(line) for line in lines]
[['a', 'b', 'c'], ['1', '2', '3'], ['g', 'g', 'g']]

answered Jan 30, 2012 at 20:26

Andrew Clark

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1 Comment

Simple, concise and to the point (maybe add a note, see my comment on the question)