Python String rsplit()

The syntax of rsplit() is:

str.rsplit([separator [, maxsplit]])

rsplit() Parameters

rsplit() method takes maximum of 2 parameters:

  • separator (optional)- The is a delimiter. rsplit() method splits string starting from the right at the specified separator.
    If the separator is not specified, any whitespace (space, newline etc.) string is a separator.
  • maxsplit (optional) - The maxsplit defines the maximum number of splits.
    The default value of maxsplit is -1, meaning, no limit on the number of splits.

Return Value from rsplit()

rsplit() breaks the string at the separator starting from the right and returns a list of strings.


Example 1: How rsplit() works in Python?

text= 'Love thy neighbor'

# splits at space
print(text.rsplit())

grocery = 'Milk, Chicken, Bread'

# splits at ','
print(grocery.rsplit(', '))

# Splitting at ':'
print(grocery.rsplit(':'))

Output

['Love', 'thy', 'neighbor']
['Milk', 'Chicken', 'Bread']
['Milk, Chicken, Bread']

When maxsplit is not specified, rsplit() behaves like split().


Example 2: How split() works when maxsplit is specified?

grocery = 'Milk, Chicken, Bread, Butter'

# maxsplit: 2
print(grocery.rsplit(', ', 2))

# maxsplit: 1
print(grocery.rsplit(', ', 1))

# maxsplit: 5
print(grocery.rsplit(', ', 5))

# maxsplit: 0
print(grocery.rsplit(', ', 0))

Output

['Milk, Chicken', 'Bread', 'Butter']
['Milk, Chicken, Bread', 'Butter']
['Milk', 'Chicken', 'Bread', 'Butter']
['Milk, Chicken, Bread, Butter']

If maxsplit is specified, the list will have the maximum of maxsplit+1 items.