String.split(".") is not splitting my long String

Question

I'm doing the following: ``` String test = "this is a. example"; String[] test2 = test.split("."); ``` the problem: `test2` has no items. But there are many `.` in the `test` `String`. Any idea what the problem is?

Accepted Answer

Note that public String[] split(String regex) takes a regex.

You need to escape the special char `.`.

Use `String[] test2 = test.split("\.");`

Now you're telling Java:

"Don't take `.` as the special char `.`, take it as the regular char `.`".

Note that escaping a regex is done by `\`, but in Java, `\` is written as `\`.

As suggested in the comments by @OldCurmudgeon (+1), you can use public static String quote(String s) that "Returns a literal pattern String for the specified String":

`String[] test2 = test.split(Pattern.quote("."));`

String.split(".") is not splitting my long String

Solution

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