Split Strings by Separator

You can solve this problem by using a programming concept known as string splitting. The string splitting function, available in most programming languages, takes a string and a separator as input and splits the string into an array of substrings at each occurrence of the separator. You then filter out any empty strings that may result from this operation. Let’s examine how to do this in Python.

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def splitWords(words, separator):
    result = []
    for word in words:
        split_word = word.split(separator)
        for element in split_word:
            if element:  # if element is not an empty string
                result.append(element)
    return result

This function works by iterating through each word in the input list words. For each word, it uses the split() method to divide the word into an array of substrings based on the separator character. It then iterates over each element of the split word and, if the element is not an empty string, it adds the element to the result list.

Let’s explain this with an example:

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print(splitWords(["one.two.three","four.five","six"], "."))

In this case, the function will first take “one.two.three” and split it into [“one”, “two”, “three”]. Then, it takes “four.five” and splits it into [“four”, “five”]. Finally, “six” remains as [“six”]. The function concatenates all these arrays together to get [“one”, “two”, “three”, “four”, “five”, “six”], which is the result.

This solution is straightforward, and it effectively addresses the problem. It has a time complexity of O(n*m), where n is the number of words and m is the length of the longest word. This is because for each word, we are performing a split operation that could potentially create m elements.

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# @param {String[]} words
# @param {Character} separator
# @return {String[]}
def split_words_by_separator(words, separator)
    result = []
    words.each do |word|
        split_word = word.split(separator)
        split_word.each do |element|
            if not element.empty?
                result << element
            end
        end
    end
    result
end

In this problem, using the word[i] approach would require you to manually handle the splitting operation. This means you’d need to iterate through each character in the string, check if it matches the separator, and then manually construct each split word. While this is certainly possible, it increases the complexity of your solution and can lead to more opportunities for errors.

Utilizing built-in string manipulation functions like split() in Python or Ruby simplifies the process by automatically handling these operations for you. These functions are optimized and well-tested, making your code more reliable and efficient. Furthermore, using split() enhances code readability, which is a crucial aspect of writing good quality code.

Remember, the essence of high-level programming languages is to provide abstractions for complex operations. The split() function is a perfect example of such an abstraction for the task of dividing a string at specific points. Therefore, it’s generally more effective to use these built-in abstractions when they are available and suitable for your problem.