Basic java question

**erosgol** · September 1st, 2011, 12:44 PM

Hey guys
I just started learning java, I am using the book Java software solutions and have a question.
Dont know if any one has this book but might help, in chapter 3 creating objects it talks about initialization of strings page 115. I guess i dont get this because if you are useing the print method you dont use the new operator IE System.out.println (" Hi");
but I think it is saying if I wanted to do String
bruce = ("Hi bruce");
System.out.println (bruce);
I would have to initialize bruse with
String bruse = new String ("Hi Bruse")

I guess what im asking is to explain the new operator better, because with something like an INT you dont have to use new IE
int bank = 43
not
int bank = new int (43)
I hope all this makes sense but let me know if can figure out what the heck im talking about lol

**Sean4u** · September 1st, 2011, 01:00 PM

It's a confusing feature of Java that people will argue over forever. The Java compiler has extra built-in support for String that it doesn't have for any other Object. "Hi Bruce" is a 'String literal' which Java treats as though you typed 'new String("Hi Bruce")'. String is probably the most used Object in any Java application - can you imagine if we had to write

String sBruce = new String(new char[]{'H', 'i', ' ', 'B', 'r', 'u', 'c', 'e'});

- how hard it would be to write even trivial programs?
int, char, float and boolean are built-in types. Object references are also a built-in type, but to assign one you must first create an Object with the new operator. Except for String - because it's special. You can write 'new String("hi Bruce")' if you want, but nobody does because javac implicitly created the String object for you when it saw the string literal in your code.

**erosgol** · September 1st, 2011, 01:27 PM

Oh ok, I get that thanks for the help

**mariuspa** · September 1st, 2011, 04:19 PM

Or you could do this:

String bruse = "Hi Bruse";

instead of using new.

Later edit: Actually I see that this was clarified in an earlier reply.. pls disregard

**Junky** · September 1st, 2011, 05:47 PM

Java has a String Literal Pool. Whenever a String literal is in your code it will be placed into the pool (if it is not already there). If it is already there then your code will refer to that String rather than create a new one and waste space. Since Strings are immutable then it is ok and will not cause problems.

String s1 = "Hello";
String s2 = new String("Hello");

On the first line the String "Hello" is placed in the literal pool and the variable s1 references it. For the secong line the String "Hello" is already in the literal pool so nothing happens but then a new Object is created and placed onto the heap. This new Object references the String "Hello" in the pool and then the variable s2 references the new Object. Therefore using the new operator will always create a new Object but just using a String Literal will only create a new Object if the String is not already in the pool.

String s1 = "Hello";
String s2 = new String("Hello");
String s3 = "Hello";
System.out.println(s1 == s3);
System.out.println(s1 == s2);

Hopefully you have been informed that using == to compare Strings can produce incorrect results and you should use the equals method instead. Well using == can be helpful in some instances. If you run the above code the output will be true and false. The first line will give true because s1 and s3 both reference the "Hello" String in the literal pool. Where as s2 references a completely different object.

**vivekanand30** · September 2nd, 2011, 05:24 PM

Just want to add to Junky explanation. As for as String object is concerned "equals" and "==" both are for different purpose. "equals" are used to compare the value in String object while "==" is used to compare the references.

Thread: Basic java question

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display

Basic java question

Related threads:

Re: Basic java question

Re: Basic java question

Re: Basic java question

Re: Basic java question

Re: Basic java question

Similar Threads

Very new to Java basic question

please answer some basic question

Basic Operational Question on Tomcat/Servlets

[SOLVED] Asking what I suspect to be a very basic question

How to link two classes in java to use it method