Over in Javascript land, they are looking at this option
## python
print('a|b|c|d|e|f'.split('|', 2))
# ['a', 'b', 'c|d|e|f']
Currently, ListToArray() processes the whole string, regardless
We could add a fifth parameter, (name?) specifying number of elements.
- when positive, the remaining string gets added as the last array element
- when negative, nothing more happens, only the first N items get added to the array
This would be useful in terms of performance and memory, as well as being useful when processing complex strings
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I actually can see some benefits with that
+1
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@bennadel said on twitter
so I think adding this extra param to ListFirst and ListRest makes sense too
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Just to add some color to what I mean, I’ll often attempt to split names like:
name = "John Smith Jr.";
firstName = name.listFirst( " " ); // John
lastName = name.listRest( " " ); // Smith Jr.
So, if I could do a split with a count:
name = "John Smith Jr.";
parts = name.listToArray( ... parts = 2 ... ) ; // [ "John", "Smith Jr." ]
firstName = parts[ 1 ];
lastName = parts[ 2 ];
Ironically, this is more work 
but, I just wanted to add color to my tweet.
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I pinged the Adobe team about this proposal
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Bear in mind that this is already doable in CFML:
'a|b|c|d|e|f'.split("\|", 2) // ["a", "b|c|d|e|f"]
The downside of this is that the resultant array is a Java String[], not a native CFML one (so: can’t call CFML array methods on it; need to use the function version instead: arrayLen(a), not a.len(), etc).
There’s some merit in having a native CFML treatment to remove that “downside” I guess, but I would say given it’s already pretty much doable without taking the time to add anything into the language, I question the merit of adding a fifth parameter to listToArray.
Also not completely convinced this is a “list” operation; it’s a string-splitting operation. There’s a slight notional difference there, perhaps.
Not sure I would prioritise adding this to CFML. And (you know me…) def not unless Adobe added it first & you then had a compat issue to deal with. If I was talking to them about this, I’d be going “really? Is this really something that needs focus on?”. However I’d agree Lucee ought to add it if Adobe did.
–
Adam