def get_default_alignment_parameters(adjustspec):
    """
    Helper method to extract default alignment parameters as passed in spec and return values in a list.

    for e.g if the params is passed as "key=value key2=value2", then the returned list will be:
        ["key=value", "key2=value2"]
    """

    default_alignment_parameters = []

    if (
        "defaultAlignmentParams" in adjustspec
        and adjustspec["defaultAlignmentParams"] is not None
    ):
        default_alignment_parameters = adjustspec["defaultAlignmentParams"].split()

    return default_alignment_parameters