str.split

Split the string into parts by a separator.

Python 3.13
str.split(sep=None, maxsplit=-1)

Parameters

sepstr | Noneoptional: The separator; if not given, the string is split by spaces, tabs and newlines.
maxsplitintoptional: The maximum number of splits; -1 means no limit.

Return value

A list of strings; the separator is not included.

Examples

Splitting by a space

Python 3.13
print('hello world'.split(' '))
['hello', 'world']

Splitting by any whitespace

Python 3.13
print('  one   two '.split())
['one', 'two']

Empty parts between separators

Python 3.13
print('a,,b'.split(','))
['a', '', 'b']

Only the first split

Python 3.13
print('key=value=1'.split('=', 1))
['key', 'value=1']

Details

Without sep, consecutive spaces count as one separator and spaces at the edges are dropped. With an explicit sep, empty parts are kept. That is why an empty string gives different results: "".split() gives [], and "".split(",") gives [""].