SearchPath API for classpath and similar path strings

The java runtime supports several strings that are parsed to a list of files and directories such as java.class.path and java.library.path.

An API that parses the string using the File.pathSeparator into the components would be useful and replace several existing implementations.

The API would need to take into account different cases such as the handling of empty path elements and the provision to quote segments of the path as supported on Windows.