When should we use intern method of String on Stri

Question

According to String#intern(), intern method is supposed to return the String from the String pool if the String is found in String pool, otherwise a new string object will be added in String pool and the reference of this String is returned.

So i tried this:

String s1 = "Rakesh";
String s2 = "Rakesh";
String s3 = "Rakesh".intern();

if ( s1 == s2 ){
    System.out.println("s1 and s2 are same");  // 1.
}

if ( s1 == s3 ){
    System.out.println("s1 and s3 are same" );  // 2.
}

I was expecting that s1 and s3 are same will be printed as s3 is interned, and s1 and s2 are same will not be printed. But the result is: both lines are printed. So that means, by default String constants are interned. But if it is so, then why do we need the intern method? In other words when should we use this method?

Answer 1

String p1 = "example";
String p2 = "example";
String p3 = "example".intern();
String p4 = p2.intern();
String p5 = new String(p3);
String p6 = new String("example");
String p7 = p6.intern();

if (p1 == p2)
    System.out.println("p1 and p2 are the same");
if (p1 == p3)
    System.out.println("p1 and p3 are the same");
if (p1 == p4)
    System.out.println("p1 and p4 are the same");
if (p1 == p5)
    System.out.println("p1 and p5 are the same");
if (p1 == p6)
    System.out.println("p1 and p6 are the same");
if (p1 == p6.intern())
    System.out.println("p1 and p6 are the same when intern is used");
if (p1 == p7)
    System.out.println("p1 and p7 are the same");

When two strings are created independently, intern() allows you to compare them and also it helps you in creating a reference in the string pool if the reference didn't exist before.

When you use String s = new String(hi), java creates a new instance of the string, but when you use String s = "hi", java checks if there is an instance of word "hi" in the code or not and if it exists, it just returns the reference.

Since comparing strings is based on reference, intern() helps in you creating a reference and allows you to compare the contents of the strings.

When you use intern() in the code, it clears of the space used by the string referring to the same object and just returns the reference of the already existing same object in memory.

But in case of p5 when you are using:

String p5 = new String(p3);

Only contents of p3 are copied and p5 is created newly. So it is not interned.

So the output will be:

p1 and p2 are the same
p1 and p3 are the same
p1 and p4 are the same
p1 and p6 are the same when intern is used
p1 and p7 are the same