About this question
In Java, splitting a string by the pipe symbol | can be tricky because it's a special character in regular expressions. Learn how to properly escape and use it with the split() method to break your string into parts.
In Java, splitting a string by the pipe symbol | can be tricky because it's a special character in regular expressions. Learn how to properly escape and use it with the split() method to break your string into parts.
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Answered on Jul 27, 2025
To split a string by the | character in Java, you need to use the String.split() method. However, since the pipe (|) is a special character in regular expressions (it represents logical OR), you must escape it properly to use it as a literal character.
Here's how you can do it:
String text = "Java|Python|JavaScript";
String[] languages = text.split("\|"); // Note the double backslash
for (String lang : languages) {
System.out.println(lang);
}Key Points:
Things to Keep in Mind:
Example Output:
Java
Python
JavaScriptThis method is commonly used in file parsing, processing user inputs, or handling data that comes in delimited formats. So remembering to escape regex characters in Java string operations is a helpful habit to build.
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