Question

I’d like to break apart a String by a certain length variable.
It needs to bounds check so as not explode when the last section of string is not as long as or longer than the length. Looking for the most succinct (yet understandable) version.

Example:

string x = "AAABBBCC";
string[] arr = x.SplitByLength(3);
// arr[0] -> "AAA";
// arr[1] -> "BBB";
// arr[2] -> "CC"

Answer 1

You need to use a loop:

public static IEnumerable<string> SplitByLength(this string str, int maxLength) {
    for (int index = 0; index < str.Length; index += maxLength) {
        yield return str.Substring(index, Math.Min(maxLength, str.Length - index));
    }
}

Alternative:

public static IEnumerable<string> SplitByLength(this string str, int maxLength) {
    int index = 0;
    while(true) {
        if (index + maxLength >= str.Length) {
            yield return str.Substring(index);
            yield break;
        }
        yield return str.Substring(index, maxLength);
        index += maxLength;
    }
}

2^nd alternative: (For those who can’t stand while(true))

public static IEnumerable<string> SplitByLength(this string str, int maxLength) {
    int index = 0;
    while(index + maxLength < str.Length) {
        yield return str.Substring(index, maxLength);
        index += maxLength;
    }

    yield return str.Substring(index);
}