```
temp = "['a','b','c']"
print type(temp)
#string

output = ['a','b','c']
print type(output)
#list

```

so i have this temporary string which is basically a list in string format . . . i'm trying to turn it back into a list but i'm not sure a simple way to do it . i know one way but i'd rather not use regex 

if i use temp.split() I get

```
temp_2 = ["['a','b','c']"]

```