How to convert a string with comma-delimited items to a list in Python?

Question

How do you convert a string into a list?

Say the string is like text = \"a,b,c\". After the conversion, text == [\'a\', \'b\', \'c\'] and h

Answer 1

If you actually want arrays:

>>> from array import array
>>> text = "a,b,c"
>>> text = text.replace(',', '')
>>> myarray = array('c', text)
>>> myarray
array('c', 'abc')
>>> myarray[0]
'a'
>>> myarray[1]
'b'

If you do not need arrays, and only want to look by index at your characters, remember a string is an iterable, just like a list except the fact that it is immutable:

>>> text = "a,b,c"
>>> text = text.replace(',', '')
>>> text[0]
'a'