re.compile().split(): why it produces empty string as a first element of the list

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

In message <lLidnaMLFaJMkofYnZ2dnUVZ_qednZ2d at comcast.com>, alf wrote:

> Fredrik Lundh wrote:
>> alf wrote:
>> 
>>> Let's run following:
>>>
>>>  >>> re.compile('(\[.*?\])').split('[aa]bb[11]22')
>>> ['', '[aa]', 'bb', '[11]', '22']
>>>
>>> Why does it return '' as a first element of the list?
>> 
>> 
>> because the string starts with a separator.
>> 
>> </F>
>> 
> so is it safe to say that the index of separator in the list is always
> an odd number?

Hard to see why not.