Python: split HTTP headers with .splitlines() vs .split("\r\n")

Question

How should I split HTTP headers in Python? Using .splitlines() or .split("\r\n")?

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

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This SO answer shows that "\r\n" is the correct for the HTTP specification, but it is recommended to be ready to accept only "\n" as well in case you receive a header that doesn't follow the specification.

With that in mind, choose .splitlines, since the Python docs say:

This method uses the universal newlines approach to splitting lines.

And also explains:

universal newlines: A manner of interpreting text streams in which all of the following are recognized as ending a line: the Unix end-of-line convention '\n', the Windows convention '\r\n', and the old Macintosh convention '\r'.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

Community

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answered Mar 11 '17 at 17:27

user2089810

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As mentioned under "universal newlines", `bytes.splitlines()` also splits on `\r`, without any `\n`. I'm not sure that behavior meets the HTTP spec. – djvg Dec 20 '20 at 18:55

Python: split HTTP headers with .splitlines() vs .split("\r\n")

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