Strings

In Java, String may relate to two different things :

1. Object 
   • Special treatment is given to String in Java as it is treated as an Object.
   • Objects that are backed internally by a char array.
   • There are two ways to create a string object :
   • By string literal
     • If means special treatment is asked. JVM will search for an object that contains a hello string; if found, it will use its reference, i.e., its address will be assigned to g; if not found, a new object with a hello string will be created.
     • E.g. : String g = “hello”;
   • By new keyword
     • If means no special treatment is asked. So JVM doesn’t apply a search, but definitely, a new object will be created with a hello string in it.
     • E.g. : String g = new String(“hello”);
2. String class
   • A string is a class, and it contains several built-in methods and properties.
   • It is used to create and manipulate strings or, let’s say, string objects.
   • All string literals in Java are implemented as instances of this class.
   • The class includes methods like compare(), concat(), equals(), split(), length(), replace(), compareTo(), intern(), substring() etc.
   • E.g. : String g = new String(“hello”);