how to split word into characters python code example

Example 1: how to split a word into letters in python

def split(word):
    return [char for char in word] 

word = "word"
print(split(word))
#output: ["w", "o", "r", "d"]

Example 2: python split string on char

>>> "MATCHES__STRING".split("__")
['MATCHES', 'STRING']