How to Convert String to List in Python?

2 weeks ago 13

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Recently, someone working with machine learning asked me about converting a string to a list in Python using the split() method. I explained to them how to do this with an example. Also, there are other methods for converting strings to lists. I will explain everything here with examples.

To convert a string to a list in Python using the split() method, you simply call the split() function on the string, specifying the delimiter. For example, address = "123 Main Street, Springfield, IL"; address_list = address.split(", ") will split the string at each comma and space, resulting in ['123 Main Street', 'Springfield', 'IL'].

Convert String to List in Python

Python provides different methods to convert a string to a list. Let me explain each method with examples.

1. Using the split() Method

The split() method is one of the simplest ways to convert a string to a list. It splits the string into a list based on a specified separator.

Syntax:

str.split(sep=None, maxsplit=-1)

sep: The delimiter string. If not specified, any whitespace string is a separator.
maxsplit: The maximum number of splits. If not specified, there is no limit.

Example:

Here is an example.

address = "123 Main Street, Springfield, IL" address_list = address.split(", ") print(address_list)

This will output:

['123 Main Street', 'Springfield', 'IL']

You can see the exact output in the screenshot below:

I highly recommend using this method to convert a string to a list in Python.

Check out Find the First Number in a String in Python

2. Using the list() Function

Let me show you another method. You can also use the list() method to convert a string to a list.

The list() function can be used to convert a string into a list of characters.

Syntax:

list(string)

Example:

Let me show you an example.

city = "Chicago" city_list = list(city) print(city_list)

This will output:

['C', 'h', 'i', 'c', 'a', 'g', 'o']

The exact output is in the screenshot below. I executed the above Python code using VS code.

Read Reverse a String in Python

3. Using List Comprehension

List comprehension provides a concise way to create lists. You can use it to convert a string to a list of characters or to apply a condition.

Example:

state = "California" state_list = [char for char in state] print(state_list)

This will output:

['C', 'a', 'l', 'i', 'f', 'o', 'r', 'n', 'i', 'a']

You can see the output in the screenshot below:

4. Using re.findall()

For more complex string splitting in Python, you can use the re module’s findall() function. This is particularly useful for extracting patterns.

Example:

Here is an example.

import re phone_number = "Call me at 123-456-7890 or 987-654-3210" numbers = re.findall(r'\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}', phone_number) print(numbers)

This will output:

['123-456-7890', '987-654-3210']

Check out Check if a Python String Contains a Substring

5. Using ast.literal_eval()

If you have a string representation of a list, you can use ast.literal_eval() to convert it back to a list.

Example:

Below is an example.

import ast list_str = "['New York', 'Los Angeles', 'Chicago']" cities_list = ast.literal_eval(list_str) print(cities_list)

This will output:

['New York', 'Los Angeles', 'Chicago']

Conclusion

In this tutorial, I explained different methods for converting a string to a list in Python, such as the split() method, list() function, list comprehension, re.findall(), or ast.literal_eval(), etc. For each method, I have shown one real example.