How do I convert this string to an array? [duplicate]

Question

The string has all the formatting of an array:

myString="['ASK', 'NOT', 'WHAT', 'YOUR', 'COUNTRY', 'CAN', 'DO', 'FOR', 'YOU']"

I want to make this an array. How would I do that in python?

You can use the eval() function, even if it's a bit dangerous. ast.literal_eval, is better, since it won't execute functions. — Kavli
– Kavli, Commented May 10, 2016 at 9:58
@Kavli Nothing wrong with using eval or exec if the source is trusted. For small toy projects where you're the only one entering input, it's safe to assume the source is trusted. collections.namedtuple uses exec to build its classes. However, it does establish that it's arguments are valid identifiers and so the exec will work only as expected. — Dunes
– Dunes, Commented May 10, 2016 at 11:04

DeepSpace · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-10 10:01:33Z

1

You can either use literal_eval (which is safer than eval), or you can treat it as a json string:

from ast import literal_eval

li = literal_eval("['ASK', 'NOT', 'WHAT', 'YOUR', 'COUNTRY', 'CAN', 'DO', 'FOR', 'YOU']")

# or with the json module

import json
li = json.loads("['ASK', 'NOT', 'WHAT', 'YOUR', 'COUNTRY', 'CAN', 'DO', 'FOR', 'YOU']")

answered May 10, 2016 at 10:01

DeepSpace

82.1k12 gold badges119 silver badges166 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Squazz · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-10 11:28:02Z

0

If this is a hobby project, you can use eval() if you want to ensure that it is in fact an array:

string = ['ASK', 'NOT', 'WHAT', 'YOUR', 'COUNTRY', 'CAN', 'DO', 'FOR', 'YOU']
string = eval( string )

If you want something more secure, you can use literal_eval which won't execute functions.

edited May 10, 2016 at 11:28

answered May 10, 2016 at 9:59

Squazz

4,1818 gold badges43 silver badges68 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How do I convert this string to an array? [duplicate]

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Linked

Related