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Java String

Java String provides a lot of concepts that can be performed on a string such as compare, concat, equals, split, length, replace, compareTo, intern, substring etc.

In java, string is basically an object that represents sequence of char values.

An array of characters works same as java string. For example:

is same as:

The java.lang.String class implements Serializable, Comparable and CharSequence interfaces.

The java String is immutable i.e. it cannot be changed but a new instance is created. For mutable class, you can use StringBuffer and StringBuilder class.

We will discuss about immutable string later. Let's first understand what is string in java and how to create the string object.


What is String in java

Generally, string is a sequence of characters. But in java, string is an object that represents a sequence of characters. String class is used to create string object.

How to create String object?

There are two ways to create String object:
  1. By string literal
  2. By new keyword

1) String Literal

Java String literal is created by using double quotes. For Example:

Each time you create a string literal, the JVM checks the string constant pool first. If the string already exists in the pool, a reference to the pooled instance is returned. If string doesn't exist in the pool, a new string instance is created and placed in the pool. For example:

java string literal

In the above example only one object will be created. Firstly JVM will not find any string object with the value "Welcome" in string constant pool, so it will create a new object. After that it will find the string with the value "Welcome" in the pool, it will not create new object but will return the reference to the same instance.

Note: String objects are stored in a special memory area known as string constant pool.


Why java uses concept of string literal?

To make Java more memory efficient (because no new objects are created if it exists already in string constant pool).


2) By new keyword

In such case, JVM will create a new string object in normal(non pool) heap memory and the literal "Welcome" will be placed in the string constant pool. The variable s will refer to the object in heap(non pool).


Java String Example

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example

Java String class methods

The java.lang.String class provides many useful methods to perform operations on sequence of char values.

No.MethodDescription
1char charAt(int index)returns char value for the particular index
2int length()returns string length
3static String format(String format, Object... args)returns formatted string
4static String format(Locale l, String format, Object... args)returns formatted string with given locale
5String substring(int beginIndex)returns substring for given begin index
6String substring(int beginIndex, int endIndex)returns substring for given begin index and end index
7boolean contains(CharSequence s)returns true or false after matching the sequence of char value
8static String join(CharSequence delimiter, CharSequence... elements)returns a joined string
9static String join(CharSequence delimiter, Iterable<? extends CharSequence> elements)returns a joined string
10boolean equals(Object another)checks the equality of string with object
11boolean isEmpty()checks if string is empty
12String concat(String str)concatinates specified string
13String replace(char old, char new)replaces all occurrences of specified char value
14String replace(CharSequence old, CharSequence new)replaces all occurrences of specified CharSequence
15String trim()returns trimmed string omitting leading and trailing spaces
16String split(String regex)returns splitted string matching regex
17String split(String regex, int limit)returns splitted string matching regex and limit
18String intern()returns interned string
19int indexOf(int ch)returns specified char value index
20int indexOf(int ch, int fromIndex)returns specified char value index starting with given index
21int indexOf(String substring)returns specified substring index
22int indexOf(String substring, int fromIndex)returns specified substring index starting with given index
23String toLowerCase()returns string in lowercase.
24String toLowerCase(Locale l)returns string in lowercase using specified locale.
25String toUpperCase()returns string in uppercase.
26String toUpperCase(Locale l)returns string in uppercase using specified locale.


Do You Know ?
  • Why String objects are immutable?
  • How to create an immutable class?
  • What is string constant pool?
  • What code is written by the compiler if you concat any string by + (string concatenation operator)?
  • What is the difference between StringBuffer and StringBuilder class?


What we will learn in String Handling ?
  • Concept of String
  • Immutable String
  • String Comparison
  • String Concatenation
  • Concept of Substring
  • String class methods and its usage
  • StringBuffer class
  • StringBuilder class
  • Creating Immutable class
  • toString() method
  • StringTokenizer class
Next TopicImmutable String