Question

I need to split a line of assembly code using split() method in Java. Here is a sample code:

String line = "Add a, b, c";
String[] parts = line.split("[\\s+,]");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(parts));

OUTPUT:

[Add, a, , b, c]

I need the output to be like:

[Add, a, b, c]

for any of the following inputs:

String line = "Add a,b,c";
String line = "Add   a  ,b,c";
String line = "Add a,  b,c";
String line = "Add a,b , c";
String line = "Add a , b , c";

or any similar cases.

What is the right regex to use in place of [\\s+,]?

Answer 1

The following should do it:

String[] parts = line.split("[\\s,]+");

Your current regex matches exactly one space, or exactly one +, or exactly one comma.

The above regex matches one or more spaces and/or commas.

The difference is the placement of the +: when it appears inside of a character class, it is interpreted literally.