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String Pool in Java

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String Pool in Java

In Java, String is the most important topic. There is a number of concepts related to String but the string pooling concept is one of them. The String pooling concept in Java is a bit tricky. So, in this section, we are going to discuss the String Pool or String Intern concept.

What is the string pool?

String pool is nothing but a storage area in Java heap where string literals stores. It is also known as String Intern Pool or String Constant Pool. It is just like object allocation. By default, it is empty and privately maintained by the Java String class. Whenever we create a string the string object occupies some space in the heap memory. Creating a number of strings may increase the cost and memory too which may reduce the performance also.

The JVM performs some steps during the initialization of string literals that increase the performance and decrease the memory load. To decrease the number of String objects created in the JVM the String class keeps a pool of strings.

When we create a string literal, the JVM first check that literal in the String pool. If the literal is already present in the pool, it returns a reference to the pooled instance. If the literal is not present in the pool, a new String object takes place in the String pool.

Creating String in Java

There are two ways to create a string in Java:

Using String Literal

String str1 = “Python”;

String str2 = “Data Science”;

String str3 = “Python”;

Using new Keyword

In Java, a new keyword is also used to create String, as follows:

String str1 = new String (“Java”);

String str2 = new String (“C++”);

String str3 = new String (“Data Science”);

Let’s understand what is the difference between them. Let’s compare the string literals’ references.

s1==s3 //true

s2==s3 //false

Let’s see how we found that equal or not.

String Pool in Java

First, we have created a string literal Python and it takes place in the pool. After that, the string Data Science is created, it also takes place in the pool. At last, again we have created the string Python. But at this time, JVM checks for the string and found that string literal is already present. Instead of taking a new instance in the String pool, it returns the reference of the pooled instance i.e. str1.

Similarly, when we use the new keyword to create the string literals, it also takes place in the String pool. We have created three strings literals Java, C++, and Data Science. We see that the string literals Java and C++ are the new ones. But the Data Science literal is already existing in the pool. At this time, JVM allocates space for the literal Data Science in Java Heap. Remember that all the String literals created with the new keyword take place in the Java heap, not in the String pool.

StringPoolExample.java

Output:

String Pool in Java

In the above example, we have seen that whenever we use a new operator to create a string it creates a new string object in the Java heap. We can forcefully stop this feature by using the intern() method of the String class.

Java String.intern() Method

The String.intern() method puts the string in the String pool or refers to another String object from the string pool having the same value. It returns a string from the pool if the string pool already contains a string equal to the String object. It determines the string by using the String.equals(Object) method. If the string is not already existing, the String object is added to the pool, and a reference to this String object is returned.

For any two strings say str1 and str2, str1.intern() = = str2.intern() will be true if and only if the statement str1.equals(str2) will be true.

Note: All literal strings and string-valued constant expressions are interned.

Syntax:

The method returns the canonical representation of the string object.

For example:

The above statement creates the string in the Java heap. If we want to store the string literal in the String pool we should use the intern() method.

Let’s see an example and understand the use of the intern() method.

StringInternExample.java

Output:

String Pool in Java

Points to Remember

There are the following points about string interring and string pool that keep in mind while dealing with the String.

  • Sting is immutable in Java.
  • All Strings are stored in the String Pool (or String Intern Pool) that is allocated in the Java heap.
  • String pool is an implementation of the String Interring Concept.
  • String Interning is a method that stores only a copy of each distinct string literal.
  • The distinct values are stored in the String pool.
  • String pool is an example of the Flyweight Design Pattern.

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