code: def split_and_strip(string, separator_regexp=None, maxsplit=0):
      
      if not string:
          return ['']
      if separator_regexp is None:
          separator_regexp = _default_separator()
      if not separator_regexp:
          return string.split()
      return [item.strip()
              for item in re.split(separator_regexp, string, maxsplit)]
docs: Split a string into items and trim any excess spaces from the items
  
      >>> split_and_strip('fred, was, here  ')
      ['fred', 'was', 'here']