java string 编码,Java中的String的字符编码是什么？

I am actually confused regarding encoding of string in a language. I had some of these questions .... Please help me if you know the answer to them....

1) What is the native encoding of java strings in memory ie when I write String a = "Hello" in which format will it be stored. Since java is machine independent so I don't think it will be the encoding done by the system ??

2) I read this on the net that "UTF-16" is the default encoding but I got confused because say when I write that int a = 'c' the default answer gives me ASCII so are ASCII and UTF-16 same ??

3) Also I had this doubt that on what factors the storage of a string in the memory depend os , language ??

解决方案

1) Strings are objects, which typically contain a char array and the strings's length. The character array is usually implemented as a contiguous array of 16-bit words, each one containing a Unicode character in native byte order.

2) Assigning a character value to an integer converts the 16-bit Unicode character code into its integer equivalent. Thus 'c', which is U+0063, becomes 0x0063, or 99.

3) Since each String is an object, it contains other information than its class members (e.g., class descriptor word, lock/semaphore word, etc.).

ADENDUM

The object contents depend on the JVM implementation (which determines the inherent overhead associated with each object), and how the class is actually coded (i.e., some libraries may be more efficient than others).

EXAMPLE

A typical implementation will allocate an overhead of two words per object instance (for the class descriptor/pointer, and a semaphore/lock control word); a String object also contains an int length and a char[] array reference. The actual character contents of the string are stored in a second object, the char[] array, which in turn is allocated two words, plus an array length word, plus as many 16-bit char elements as needed for the string (plus any extra chars that were left hanging around when the string was created).

Take a look at the actual source code for Apache's implementation, e.g. at:

http://www.docjar.com/html/api/java/lang/String.java.html