What is difference between mutable and immutable String in java

What is difference between mutable and immutable String in java

immutable exist, mutable don't.


Case 1:

String str = "Good";
str = str + " Morning";

In the above code you create 3 String Objects.

  1. "Good" it goes into the String Pool.
  2. " Morning" it goes into the String Pool as well.
  3. "Good Morning" created by concatenating "Good" and " Morning". This guy goes on the Heap.

Note: Strings are always immutable. There is no, such thing as a mutable String. str is just a reference which eventually points to "Good Morning". You are actually, not working on 1 object. you have 3 distinct String Objects.


Case 2:

StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer("Good"); 
str.append(" Morning");

StringBuffer contains an array of characters. It is not same as a String. The above code adds characters to the existing array. Effectively, StringBuffer is mutable, its String representation isn't.


Java Strings are immutable.

In your first example, you are changing the reference to the String, thus assigning it the value of two other Strings combined: str + " Morning".

On the contrary, a StringBuilder or StringBuffer can be modified through its methods.


In Java, all strings are immutable. When you are trying to modify a String, what you are really doing is creating a new one. However, when you use a StringBuilder, you are actually modifying the contents, instead of creating a new one.