Confusing output from String.split

Question

I do not understand the output of this code:

public class StringDemo{              
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        String blank = \"\";         


        

Answer 1

From JDK 1.7

 public String[] split(String regex, int limit) {
        /* fastpath if the regex is a
           (1)one-char String and this character is not one of the
              RegEx's meta characters ".$|()[{^?*+\\", or
           (2)two-char String and the first char is the backslash and
              the second is not the ascii digit or ascii letter.
        */
        char ch = 0;
        if (((regex.count == 1 &&
             ".$|()[{^?*+\\".indexOf(ch = regex.charAt(0)) == -1) ||
             (regex.length() == 2 &&
              regex.charAt(0) == '\\' &&
              (((ch = regex.charAt(1))-'0')|('9'-ch)) < 0 &&
              ((ch-'a')|('z'-ch)) < 0 &&
              ((ch-'A')|('Z'-ch)) < 0)) &&
            (ch < Character.MIN_HIGH_SURROGATE ||
             ch > Character.MAX_LOW_SURROGATE))
        {
            int off = 0;
            int next = 0;
            boolean limited = limit > 0;
            ArrayList list = new ArrayList<>();
            while ((next = indexOf(ch, off)) != -1) {
                if (!limited || list.size() < limit - 1) {
                    list.add(substring(off, next));
                    off = next + 1;
                } else {    // last one
                    //assert (list.size() == limit - 1);
                    list.add(substring(off, count));
                    off = count;
                    break;
                }
            }
            // If no match was found, return this
            if (off == 0)
                return new String[] { this };

            // Add remaining segment
            if (!limited || list.size() < limit)
                list.add(substring(off, count));

            // Construct result
            int resultSize = list.size();
            if (limit == 0)
                while (resultSize > 0 && list.get(resultSize-1).length() == 0)
                    resultSize--;
            String[] result = new String[resultSize];
            return list.subList(0, resultSize).toArray(result);
        }
        return Pattern.compile(regex).split(this, limit);
    }

So for this case, the regex will be handled by the first if.

For the first case blank.split(",")

// If no match was found, return this
if (off == 0)
   return new String[] { this };

So, this function will return an array which contains one element if there is no matched.

For the second case comma.split(",")

List list = new ArrayList<>();
//...
int resultSize = list.size();
if (limit == 0)
    while (resultSize > 0 && list.get(resultSize-1).length() == 0)
           resultSize--;
String[] result = new String[resultSize];
return list.subList(0, resultSize).toArray(result);

As you notice, the last while loop has removed all empty element in the end of the list, so the resultSize is 0.