[Tutor] string split function - how to tell how many splits

[Steven D'Aprano]

Cranky Frankie wrote:
> How do you tell how many splits the string split funtion returns? For example:
> 
> field = 'The Good Wife ;'	# a string separated by spaces
> new_list = field.split(' ')	# create a list of space delimited elements
> print (new_list[0])		# print the first one
> print (new_list[1])		# print the second one
> print (new_list[2])		# print the third one
> print (new_list[3])		# print the fourth one
> print (new_list[4])		# print the fifth one
> 
> 
> The last line above causes an error. I plan on reading in a file where
> I don't know what the number of splits will be. How can I find out
> before trying to access an out of range index?

text = 'Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!'
words = text.split(' ')
number_of_words = len(words)
print words[number_of_words - 1]  # prints "Inquisition!!!"


-- 
Steven