How to split a string in shell and get the last field

Question

Suppose I have the string 1:2:3:4:5 and I want to get its last field (5 in this case). How do I do that using Bash? I tried cut, but I

Answer 1

Another way is to reverse before and after cut:

$ echo ab:cd:ef | rev | cut -d: -f1 | rev
ef

This makes it very easy to get the last but one field, or any range of fields numbered from the end.