static String[] splitLine(final String line){
  final int ix0=line.indexOf('#');
  final int ix=ix0 == -1 ? line.length() : ix0;
  final String lessComment=line.substring(0,ix);
  if (lessComment.matches("^\\s*$")) {
    return null;
  }
  return lessComment.split("\\s+");
}

static String [ ] splitLine ( final String line ) { final int ix0 = line . indexOf ( '#' ) ; final int ix = ix0 == - 1 ? line . length ( ) : ix0 ; final String lessComment = line . substring ( 0 , ix ) ; if ( lessComment . matches ( "^\\s*$" ) ) { return null ; } return lessComment . split ( "\\s+" ) ; }
check for comments , trim white space . return null if nothing left after that . otherwise split on tabs and return the array .
