How to Split String in Kotlin: Syntax and Examples

In Kotlin, you can split a string using the split() function by passing a delimiter like a character or string. This function returns a list of substrings separated by the delimiter.

Syntax

The basic syntax to split a string in Kotlin is using the split() function. You provide one or more delimiters as arguments, and it returns a list of substrings.

• delimiter(s): The character(s) or string(s) where the split happens.
• limit (optional): Maximum number of splits to perform.

kotlin

val parts = originalString.split(delimiter)

Example

This example shows how to split a sentence into words using space as the delimiter.

kotlin

fun main() {
    val sentence = "Kotlin is fun to learn"
    val words = sentence.split(" ")
    println(words)
}

Output

[Kotlin, is, fun, to, learn]

Common Pitfalls

One common mistake is forgetting that split() returns a list, not an array or string. Also, if the delimiter is not found, the whole string is returned as a single element list. Using multiple delimiters requires passing them as varargs or a regex.

kotlin

fun main() {
    val text = "apple,banana;cherry"
    // Wrong: splitting by a single string won't split by both ',' and ';'
    val wrongSplit = text.split(",;")
    println(wrongSplit) // Output: [apple,banana;cherry]

    // Right: split by multiple delimiters using regex
    val rightSplit = text.split(",", ";")
    println(rightSplit) // Output: [apple, banana, cherry]
}

Output

[apple,banana;cherry]
[apple, banana, cherry]

Key Takeaways

Use split() with a delimiter to divide a string into parts.

split() returns a list of substrings, not a single string.

To split by multiple delimiters, pass them as separate arguments or use a regex.

If the delimiter is missing, the result is a list with the original string as one element.