Different Delimiters

CSV is really "(D)SV" — delimiter-separated values. Common delimiters:

• , (comma) — classic
• ; (semicolon) — Excel in European locales
• \t (tab) — TSV
• | (pipe) — sometimes for piped data
• (space) — uncommon, ambiguous

Most parsers auto-detect or take a delimiter= parameter.

Python's csv module:

Detection heuristic: try a few delimiters; pick the one that produces consistent column counts across rows.

For interop, ALWAYS specify the delimiter explicitly. Never guess.

When generating CSV: always quote fields containing delimiter chars to keep parsers happy.