question: private String parseString ( final String s , final char separator , final AtomicReference < String > value ) { final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder ( s . length ( ) ) ; int separatorIndex = - 1 ; for ( int i = 0 ; i < s . length ( ) ; i ++ ) { if ( s . charAt ( i ) == separator && i + 1 < s . length ( ) && s . charAt ( i + 1 ) == separator ) { sb . append ( separator ) ; i ++ ; continue ; } if ( s . charAt ( i ) == separator ) { separatorIndex = i ; break ; } sb . append ( s . charAt ( i ) ) ; } value . set ( sb . toString ( ) ) ; if ( separatorIndex != - 1 && separatorIndex != s . length ( ) - 1 ) { return s . substring ( separatorIndex + 1 ) ; } else { return "" ; } }
target:  This helper method breaks a string at the specified separator. The separator is escaped whenever it appears twice in a row.