Question

As an exercise, describe the relationship

between string.join(string.split(song)) and song.

(they both refer to a string)

Are they the same for all strings? When would they be different?

I am a little ashamed to ask such a question for a likely simple question but,

I don’t get it, what is/are the exception(s)? when are they are different?

Answer 1

By default the split method groups consecutive delimiters together, so if you have them in your original string they’ll be lost:

>>> import string
>>> song = "I     am      the      Walrus"
>>> string.join(string.split(song))
'I am the Walrus'

However, if you specify delimiters to split on then consecutive delimiters are not grouped so you can keep the strings the same:

>>> string.join(string.split(song,' '))
'I   am    the    Walrus'