Question

Waht would be an idiomatic way to split strings that may contain any combination of digits and letters into groups of digits and letters but keeping the order).

ex:

X45C -> X-45-C
5K -> 5-K

How would be an elegant way to implement that?

Answer 1

Regex to the rescue!

val xs = List("X45C", "5K")
val ys = xs map {x => """\d+|\D+""".r.findAllIn(x).toList}

println(ys)
  /* List(List(X, 45, C), List(5, K)) */

If \D is the right choice depends on the actual input, consult the pattern docs for further information.