Java Strings
String class is the most used class in Java programming language. The string is the sequence of characters, which is treated as objects in Java.
Creating String objects
We create String objects using a new operator or by using string literal values within double quotes. But there is a big difference between them about how these objects are stored and referred to, by Java.
Example 1.
public class ExampleString {
public static void main(String[] args) {
StrObj stringClass = new StrObj();
System.out.println(stringClass.str1 == stringClass.str2);
}
}
class StrObj {
String str1 = new String("INDIA");
String str2 = new String("INDIA");
}
Output:
false
String objects created using new operator always refer to separate objects, even if they store the same sequence of characters.
Example 2.
public class ExampleString {
String str1 = "INDIA";
String str2 = "INDIA";
public static void main(String[] args) {
ExampleString stringClass = new ExampleString();
System.out.println(stringClass.str1==stringClass.str2);
}
}
Output:
true
When the string object is created using literal method, JVM searches for the same sequence of character in the string pool. If it finds the same sequence, JVM does not create the string object but make it refer to the same string previously created. Hence str2 will point to the object created by the str1 that’s why the result is true here.
We can also create a string object using
System.out.println("INDIA");
If the matching value is found in the string pool, the value is reused. If the matching value is not found in the string pool, JVM has first to create it and then place it to the spring pool.
Let's count some string objects:
1 String star = new String("Star");
2 String star2 = "Star";
3 System.out.println("Star");
4 System.out.println("Moon");
5 System.out.println("Moon" == "star");
6 String star1 = new String("Star");
Line 1 creates a String object having value “Star” in heap memory.
Line 2 creates a String object and place it to the string pool.
Line 3 does not create String object since the same value is stored in the string pool.
Line 4 creates a String object having value “Moon” and place it to the string pool.
Line 5 creates String object since “star” has a lower case ‘s’ and it is treated as a different value.
Line 6 creates a String object having value “Star” in heap memory.
String class is Immutable
String class is immutable, and it means that the object of this class can not be modified.
This is for performance reason, and the JVM can reuse this object which led to low memory overhead and good performance.
String class is made immutable by following three steps.
- The value of the String object is stored in the char array (char value[]) and it is marked final so that it cannot be modified or re-initialized.
- The length of the array is fixed and cannot be increased once initialized.
- All methods defined in the string class do not modify the array value instead, they return a new String object.
Methods of the String Class
charAt(): It is used to retrieve a character at a specified index of a String :
Example:
public class Myclass{
public static void main(String args[]){
String country = new String("India");
System.out.println(country .charAt(0)); // returns “I”
System.out.println(country .charAt(3)); // returns “i”
}
}
Output:
I i
This method may throw a runtime exception if we seek the position out of the range
Example:
System.out.println(country.charAt(5));
the exception is java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException.
indexOf(): This method search for the occurrence of a character or a String, if it found in the target String, it returns the first matching position else -1.
Example :
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String country = "INDIA";
System.out.println(country.indexOf('D')); // prints 2
System.out.println(country.indexOf("I")); // prints 0
}
}
Output:
2 0
By default, JVM starts searching from index position 0 if we want to start searching at some specific position we may pass it like
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String country = "INDIA";
System.out.println(country.indexOf('I', 2)); //prints 3
}
}
Output:
3
substring(): It returns the substring of the targeted string. It is of two kinds,
Example :
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String country = "INDIA";
String sub = country.substring(2); // prints DIA
String sub1 = country.substring(2,4); // prints DI
System.out.println(sub);
System.out.println(sub1);
}
}
Output:
DIA DI
The first output will print from seeking the position to the end of the given string.
The second will print from seeking position to the last value-1(does not include the character at the end position).
It should be noted that the total length of the resulted string is
(end Index) - (beginning Index).
trim(): This method removes the leading and trailing whitespace and returns a new string.
Example :
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str = " This Is Text ";
System.out.println(str); // prints “ This Is Text ”
System.out.print(str.trim()); // prints “This Is Text”
}
}
Output:
This Is Text This Is Text
replace('a', 'A'): This method replaces all the specified occurrence of a char value with another value. We can also replace String with another String.
Example :
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String country = "INDIA";
System.out.println(country.replace('I', 'A')); // prints ANDAA
System.out.println(country.replace("DI", "LI")); //prints INLIA
}
}
Output:
ANDAA INLIA
length() : length() method is used to retrieve the length of a String.
Example :
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("India".length()); // prints 5
}
}
Output:
5
Equality of Strings
equals() method is used to compare the equality of two string. This method returns true if the object being compared to a string object and have the same characters sequence.
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String v1 = new String("INDIA");
String v2 = new String("INDIA");
System.out.println(v1.equals(v2)); //prints true
System.out.println(v1 == v2); //prints false
}
}
Output:
true false
String Concatenation
A string can be concatenated using concat() or “+” operator.
str1.concat(str2)
or like
"INDIA".concat(" IS A COUNTRY") // prints INDIA IS A COUNTRY
or like
"INDIA"+"My Country" // prints INDIA My COUNTRY
Example:
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String str1 = new String("INDIA");
String str2 = new String(" USA");
System.out.println(str1.concat(str2));
System.out.println( "INDIA".concat(" IS A COUNTRY")); // prints INDIA IS A COUNTRY
System.out.println( "INDIA"+" Is My Country"); // prints INDIA My COUNTR
}
}
Output:
INDIA USA INDIA IS A COUNTRY INDIA Is My Country