Home » Use a Regular Expression to Initialize a String Array (C#)

Use a Regular Expression to Initialize a String Array (C#)

Want to declare and initialize a string array, but tired of typing all those quotes and commas? Try this method instead. First, add the Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions line to the top of your code. Then, where you want to declare the string array, use code such as this:

String[] s = Regex.Split("Each word in this string will end up being an
 item in this string array", " ");

The RegEx object’s Split method returns a String array containing the items within the string in the first parameter split apart using the regular expression specified in the second parameter. The example shown splits the words using the space character as the separator, but you can use any valid regular expression to match the split character(s).

If you run the preceding code s() contains:

s(0) = "Each"s(1) = "word"s(2) = "in"s(3) = "this"s(4) = "string"s(5) = "will"s(6) = "end"s(7) = "up"s(8) = "being"s(9) = "an"s(10) = "item"s(11) = "in"s(12) = "this"s(13) = "string"s(14) = "array"

This tip is also available for VB.NET.

About Our Editorial Process

At DevX, we’re dedicated to tech entrepreneurship. Our team closely follows industry shifts, new products, AI breakthroughs, technology trends, and funding announcements. Articles undergo thorough editing to ensure accuracy and clarity, reflecting DevX’s style and supporting entrepreneurs in the tech sphere.

See our full editorial policy.