Chapter 8 – String Handling

String: - A string is a “collection of characters”. For

example a word or a sentence can be a string.
To handle strings, java provides us 3 ways:-
1. String class
2. StringBuffer class
3. Character Array
Both String and StringBuffer class are present in
java.lang(default) package.
Difference between String and StringBuffer:-
String StringBuffer
1.It is not flexible in 1.It is flexible in terms of
terms of length and length and value both.
value stored.
2.String objects are 2.Objects are mutable.
immutable(once created
it cannot be modified).

Note: - In java we can handle strings by using

character array. According to character array string
is collection of characters terminated by null ‘/0’
character.
char str[]=new char[20];
str=”roly/0”
Creating a String
There are two ways: -
1. By using String literals.
e.g. String str=”hello”;
2. By using new keyword.
e.g. String str=new String(“hello”);
Note: - Separate memory is allocated when string
objects are created using new operator even if
strings are identical. Same memory is allocated
when string objects are created using String literal
with identical Strings.
e.g. 1. String s1=”hello”;
String s2=s1; ( reference creation, alternative
name, same location)
Here s1 and s2 points to same memory
location.
2. String s1=new String(“hello”);
 String s2=new String(“hello”);
Here s1 and s2 points to two different
locations.
String class
String is a predefined class defined in java.lang
package. It provides various predefined methods
as well as predefined constructors to handle
strings.
Constructors of String class:-
1. Default constructor:-
String s1=new String();
S.o.p(“s1=”+s1);
Here s1 will initialize with empty value.
2. Parameterized constructor:-
(a) String objectname=new String(“value”);
e.g. String s1=new String(“hello”);
S.o.p(“s1=”+s1);→s1=hello
(b) String object=new String(String object);
e.g. String s1=new String(“hello”);
String s2=new String(s1);→s2=hello
(c) char arr[]={‘c’,’l’,’a’,’s’,’s’};
String s1=new String(arr);
 String objectname=new String(character array);
S.o.p(“s1=”+s1);→s1=class
(d) String object=new String(character array,start,length);

e.g. char arr[]={‘c’,’l’,’a’,’s’,’s’};

String s1=new String(arr,1,2);→la

Input: - There are three frequently used methods

to take string or character as input.
Scanner sc=new Scanner(System.in);
1. sc.next();→used to input single word.
2. sc.nextLine();→used to input multiple words
string.
3. sc.next().charAt(0);→used to input single
character.
Methods of String class
String s1=new String();
1.s1.trim()
This function removes the white spaces from
the beginning of the string.
e.g. String s1=” hello”;
String s2=s1.trim();
 S.o.p(“s2=”+s2);→s2=hello
2.s1.toLowerCase()
This function converts given string into
lowercase.
e.g. String s1=new String(“HELLO”);
String s2=new String(s1.toLowerCase());
S.o.p(“s2=”+s2);→s2=hello
3.s1.toUpperCase()
This function converts given string into
uppercase.
4.int length()
int x=s1.length();
This function returns the total number of
characters present in a string.
5.char charAt( int n)→prototype
s1.charAt(int n);
This function returns the character present at nth
position.
e.g. s1=”hello”;
char x=s1.charAt(3);
System.out.println(x);→ l
6. int indexOf(char ch)
This function will return the position of first
occurrence of character in the string.
String s1=”hello”;
System.out.println(s1.indexOf(‘l’));→2
7.int lastIndexOf(char ch)
This function will return the position of last
occurrence of given character in the string.
String s1=”hello”;
System.out.println(s1.lastIndexOf(‘l’));→3
8.String concat(String str)
This method is used to concatenate two strings.
e.g. s1=”hello”;
s2=”hi”;
System.out.println(s1.concat(s2));→hellohi
This method adds string s2 at the end of s1.
9.boolean equals(String str)
boolean x=s1.equals(s2);
This function checks the equality of both strings s1
and s2. If both are equal it will return true value
otherwise false. It is case-sensitive also.
e.g. s1=”hello”;
s2=”Hello”;
boolean x=s1.equals(s2);
System.out.println(x);→ false
10. boolean equalsIgnoreCase(String str)
This function checks the equality of both strings
s1 and s2. If both are equal it will return true value
otherwise false by ignoring case.
11.int compareTo(String str)
This function compares two strings
lexicographically. All the characters of both strings
are converted to Unicode for comparison.
S1=”there”;
S2=”their”;
Syntax: int x=s1.compareTo(s2);
Where x may be
1. 0 if s1=s2
2. +ve if s1>s2
 3. –ve if s1<s2

12.int compareToIgnoreCase(String str)

This method works like compareTo() method but it
ignores case differences.
13.String replace(char oldchar, char newchar)
This method is used to replace characters. It will
replace all occurrences of old characters with the
new character.
Syntax: s1.replace(oldchar,newchar)
String s1=new String(“Hello”);
String s2=new String(s1.replace(‘e’,’i’));
System.out.println(s2);→hillo
14.s1.substring(int)
This function returns a substring from the main
string. It will accept the starting point of the
substring as an argument.
Syntax: s1.substring(int);
e.g. s1=”hello world”;
s2=s1.substring(6);→world
15.s1.substring(int beginindex, int endindex)
This method is also used to return substring from
the given string. In this method we can specify the
point from where the substring would start and at
which it would end.
e.g. s1=”Hello world”;
s2=s1.substring(3,6);→lo w
16.boolean startsWith(String str)
This function checks the string and returns true
value if the string begins with the string passed as
an argument, otherwise false.
e.g. s1=”Hello world”;
boolean x=s1.startsWith(“Hello”);
System.out.println(x);→true
17.boolean endsWith(String str)
s1=”Hello world”;
boolean x=s1.endsWith(“world”);
System.out.println(x);→true
This function checks the string and returns the
value as true if the string ends with string passed
as an argument otherwise false.
18.String valueOf(any primitive datatype)
It is used to convert primitive data type into string
type.
e.g. String.valueOf(10);→”10”