Java String. Split() Regex

I have a string:

String str = "a + b - c * d / e < f > g >= h <= i == j";

I want to split the string on all of the operators, but include the operators in the array, so the resulting array looks like:

[a , +,  b , -,  c , *,  d , /,  e , <,  f , >,  g , >=,  h , <=,  i , ==,  j]

I've got this currently:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    String str = "a + b - c * d / e < f > g >= h <= i == j";
    String reg = "((?<=[<=|>=|==|\\+|\\*|\\-|<|>|/|=])|(?=[<=|>=|==|\\+|\\*|\\-|<|>|/|=]))";

    String[] res = str.split(reg);
    System.out.println(Arrays.toString(res));
}

This is pretty close, it gives:

[a , +,  b , -,  c , *,  d , /,  e , <,  f , >,  g , >, =,  h , <, =,  i , =, =,  j]

Is there something I can do to this to make the multiple character operators appear in the array like I want them to?

And as a secondary question that isn't nearly as important, is there a way in the regex to trim the whitespace off from around the letters?

4

6 Answers

String[] ops = str.split("\\s*[a-zA-Z]+\\s*");
String[] notops = str.split("\\s*[^a-zA-Z]+\\s*");
String[] res = new String[ops.length+notops.length-1];
for(int i=0; i<res.length; i++) res[i] = i%2==0 ? notops[i/2] : ops[i/2+1];

This should do it. Everything nicely stored in res.

3
str.split (" ") 
res27: Array[java.lang.String] = Array(a, +, b, -, c, *, d, /, e, <, f, >, g, >=, h, <=, i, ==, j)
    String str = "a + b - c * d / e < f > g >= h <= i == j";
    String reg = "\\s*[a-zA-Z]+";

    String[] res = str.split(reg);
    for (String out : res) {
        if (!"".equals(out)) {
            System.out.print(out);
        }
    }

Output : + - * / < > >= <= ==

0

You could split on a word boundary with \b

2

Can you invert your regex so split by the non operation characters?

String ops[] = string.split("[a-z]")
// ops == [+, -, *, /, <, >, >=, <=, == ]   

This obviously doesn't return the variables in the array. Maybe you can interleave two splits (one by the operators, one by the variables)

1

You could also do something like:

String str = "a + b - c * d / e < f > g >= h <= i == j";
String[] arr = str.split("(?<=\\G(\\w+(?!\\w+)|==|<=|>=|\\+|/|\\*|-|(<|>)(?!=)))\\s*");

It handles white spaces and words of variable length and produces the array:

[a, +, b, -, c, *, d, /, e, <, f, >, g, >=, h, <=, i, ==, j]

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Robert Thorne

Robert Thorne

Automotive & Future Transportation Editor

Robert Thorne covers electric vehicle innovations, autonomous driving systems, global mobility trends, and automotive engineering developments.

Share this article
Twitter Facebook Pinterest