How to Convert a String to an Array in Java

Sometimes when you have a string, you will want to convert it to an array.

An example of this is when you are given a sentence and want an array of the words in the sentence.

In this post, we'll learn how to use built-in methods go from a string to an array.

How to convert a string to an array

The easiest way to convert a string to an array is to use the split method.

This built-in string method takes the string it is called on and splits it up using a delimiter that you provide.

Let's start out with example sentence:

JAVA
String sentence = "this is a sentence";

Now, let's get back an array of words by splitting the sentence on the space character:

JAVA
String sentence = "this is a sentence";

String[] words = sentence.split(" ");

System.out.println(Arrays.toString(words));

BASH
[this, is, a, sentence]

The delimiter can also be a regular expression, which is useful for when you have more specific needs than just splitting on a space.

JAVA
String sentence = "this is a sentence";

String[] words = sentence.split("\\s");

System.out.println(Arrays.toString(words));

BASH
[this, is, a, sentence]

Either way, using split on a string and passing it your desired delimiter will return an array of strings.

Conclusion

In this post, we learned how to convert a string to an array.

Simply use the split method on your desired string with a delimiter and it will do the job of splitting up the array for you.

Thanks for reading!

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