How to split a string in Bash

Splitting a string in bash is easy with the help of the internal field separator (IFS).

Bash string split using IFS

1string="you got a friend in me"
2IFS=' ' read -ra split <<< "$string"
3echo "${split[*]}"
4# Output: you got a friend in me
5echo "${split[3]}"
6# Output: friend

The above method does not interfere with the IFS global variable since it’s only set for that single invocation.