# Created on savesnippets.com · https://savesnippets.com/PkHVSZa4FK3V4z
csv="alice,bob,cara,dave"

# Method 1: IFS + read
IFS=',' read -r -a arr <<< "$csv"
printf '%s\n' "${arr[@]}"
# alice
# bob
# cara
# dave

# Method 2: readarray (one line per element)
multiline=$'red\ngreen\nblue'
readarray -t colors <<< "$multiline"
echo "${#colors[@]}"        # 3
echo "${colors[1]}"         # green