Before proceeding further with the fuss of immutability, let's just take a look into the String
class and its functionality a little before coming to any conclusion.
This is how String
works:
String str = "knowledge";
This, as usual, creates a string containing "knowledge"
and assigns it a reference str
. Simple enough? Lets perform some more functions:
String s = str; // assigns a new reference to the same string "knowledge"
Lets see how the below statement works:
str = str.concat(" base");
This appends a string " base"
to str
. But wait, how is this possible, since String
objects are immutable? Well to your surprise, it is.
When the above statement is executed, the VM takes the value of String str
, i.e. "knowledge"
and appends " base"
, giving us the value "knowledge base"
. Now, since String
s are immutable, the VM can't assign this value to str
, so it creates a new String
object, gives it a value "knowledge base"
, and gives it a reference str
.
An important point to note here is that, while the String
object is immutable, its reference variable is not. So that's why, in the above example, the reference was made to refer to a newly formed String
object.
At this point in the example above, we have two String
objects: the first one we created with value "knowledge"
, pointed to by s
, and the second one "knowledge base"
, pointed to by str
. But, technically, we have three String
objects, the third one being the literal "base"
in the concat
statement.
Important Facts about String and Memory usage
What if we didn't have another reference s
to "knowledge"
? We would have lost that String
. However, it still would have existed, but would be considered lost due to having no references. Look at one more example below
String s1 = "java"; s1.concat(" rules"); System.out.println("s1 refers to "+s1); // Yes, s1 still refers to "java"
What's happening:
- The first line is pretty straightforward: create a new
String
"java"
and refer s1
to it. - Next, the VM creates another new
String
"java rules"
, but nothing refers to it. So, the second String
is instantly lost. We can't reach it.
The reference variable s1
still refers to the original String
"java"
.
Almost every method, applied to a String
object in order to modify it, creates new String
object. So, where do these String
objects go? Well, these exist in memory, and one of the key goals of any programming language is to make efficient use of memory.
As applications grow, it's very common for String
literals to occupy large area of memory, which can even cause redundancy. So, in order to make Java more efficient, the JVM sets aside a special area of memory called the "String constant pool".
When the compiler sees a String
literal, it looks for the String
in the pool. If a match is found, the reference to the new literal is directed to the existing String
and no new String
object is created. The existing String
simply has one more reference. Here comes the point of making String
objects immutable:
In the String
constant pool, a String
object is likely to have one or many references. If several references point to same String
without even knowing it, it would be bad if one of the references modified that String
value. That's why String
objects are immutable.
Well, now you could say, what if someone overrides the functionality of String
class? That's the reason that the String
class is marked final
so that nobody can override the behavior of its methods.