How do I use pattern and matcher to split a large string up into specific substrings in Java?

Question

I've never done this before, but basically I'm trying to break a large string up into substrings (based on a regular expression) and then make use of those substrings one at a time. Can anyone show me the easiest way to do this? I just don't quite know how to use the methods of pattern and matcher.

Thanks!

Answer 1

java.lang.String.split() takes a regular expression and will split the string, returning a String[] containing the substrings:

String s = "a:very:big:string";
String[] parts = s.split(":");

for (String part: parts)
{
    System.out.println(part);
}

You don't need to use the Pattern and Matcher classes to achieve this.