This String replace example in Java will show you how to replace String in Java
both at character level and
by using regular expression.
Since String is final in Java every time you replace String you will get a new String object only if your actually replace anything on original String otherwise replacemethods of String return same String object.
String Class in Java
provides 4 methods to replace String in Java. Those
methods
allow you to replace character from String,
replace CharacterSequence from
String,
replace all occurrence ofpattern in String or just first
occurrence of any pattern in Java. We will also see important points on String replace method and
how to make best use of regular expression while replace string in Java.
This article is on series of my other String article like2 ways to Split String in Java and how to convert String to Date in Java. String is one of the most important classes in Java and having a good knowledge of String class is mandatory for any Java developer.
Java String Replace Example and Tutorial in Java
String Replace Examples in Java
As I said earlier Java provides at-least four methods to
replace String in Java
according to JDK 1.6
documentation.
1. Replace method to replacesingle character in String
replace(char oldChar, char newChar)
This replace method in String takes one character and replaces all of its occurrence in provided
String with new character provided to it.
Here
is an
String replace Example
of changing character
String replaceSample = "This String replace Example shows how to replace one char from String";
String newString = replaceSample.replace('r', 't');
Output:
This Stting teplace Example shows how to teplace one chat ftom Stting
You
can see all occurrence of "r" has been replaced by "t".
Important points:
1. This replace method of String will return a new String object if there is a replace.
2. It will return same String
objects
if there is no matching char and there is no replace.
3. Replacement of String is Case Sensitive,
so
replacing "c" will only replace small case not Capital
Case
.
2. Replace method to replace character sequence in String
replace(CharSequence target, CharSequence replacement)
This String replace method replaces one character sequence with other.This method has added from
JDK 1.5 onwards.
Here
is
a
String replace example of replacing character sequence form String
String replaceSample = "String replace Example of replacing Character Sequence";
String newString = replaceSample.replace("re", "RE");
Output
: String REplace Example of REplacing Character Sequence
In this String replace Example, we have replaced "re" with "RE".
Important points:
1) This
String replace method willthrow NullPointerException if either oldCharSequence or newCharSequence
is null.
2) Replacement
of Stringstarts from beginning and proceed towards end. So in
a
String "ccc" replacing
"cc" with "d" will result in "dc" rather than "cd".
3. Replace method to replace all matched pattern in String
replaceAll(String regex, String replacement)
Good thing about replace method
of
String
Class in Java
is that it supports regular expression.
With
regex capability
you
can perform sophisticatedSearch on String and than replace characters.
This
String replace method
replaces each matched substring with the replacement String provided. Let's see String replace example
with regular expression:
String replaceSample = "String replace Example with regular expression";
String newString = replaceSample.replaceAll("^S","R");
Output:
Rtring replace Example with regular expression
This String replace replaces any "S" wiht "R" if it comes at beginning of line "^" denotes beginning of line
you
can alsoapply pattern matching wildcards and charset while replacing String in Java.
Important points:
1. This String replace method will thro
wPatternSyntaxException in case
regular expression's syntax is not valid.
4. Replace method to replace first matched pattern in String
replaceFirst(String regex, String replacement)
This String replace method is similar to above method but it only replaces first occurrence of matching
pattern instead of all occurrence. Very handy some time.
Here
is an example of String replace with
replaceFirst()
method.
String replaceSample = "String replace Example with replaceFirst";
String newString = replaceSample.replaceFirst("re","RE");
Output:
String REplace Example with replaceFirst
You can see only first occurrence of "re" is replaced with "RE" while second occurrence remains same
That’s all on how to replace String in Java, search and replace is one of the most needed thing in String and having an idea of right way of doing it is good. These String replace examples are rather simple but you can make more sophisticated by using regular expression.
Other Java Tutorials
Read more: http://javarevisited.blogspot.com/2011/12/java-string-replace-example-tutorial.html#ixzz2ki3ClW3k