Raw String literals in Java 12

24 Oct 2023

stringliterals

Java 12 introduced a new feature called raw string literals, which provides a more convenient way to work with strings that contain multiple lines or special characters such as escape sequences. In this blog post, we will explore how to use raw string literals in Java 12 and discuss some use cases where they can be helpful.

What are raw string literals?

Raw string literals allow you to define string constants without having to escape special characters or handle multiple lines using concatenation or escape sequences. In Java 12, a raw string literal starts with backticks followed by the content between the backticks and ends with another backtick.

Here’s an example of a raw string literal:

String message = `Hello World!
                 Welcome to Java 12.
                 This is a raw string literal.`;

In the above example, the string message contains multiple lines without any need for escape sequences or concatenation.

Advantages of using raw string literals

Easy handling of special characters

With raw string literals, special characters like backslashes and quotes don’t need to be escaped. This makes it easier to write and read strings that include special characters, improving the code’s readability and maintainability.

Simpler handling of multi-line strings

Raw string literals eliminate the need for concatenation or escape sequences to handle multi-line strings. This simplifies the code and reduces the chances of errors when dealing with long strings across multiple lines.

Use cases for raw string literals

Regular expressions

Raw string literals are particularly useful when working with regular expressions. Normally, regular expressions contain many escape sequences and special characters that can make them hard to read. With raw string literals, you can write regular expressions more clearly and maintainable.

String regex = `\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}`;

if (phoneNumber.matches(regex)) {
    // Do something
}

SQL queries or JSON strings

When handling SQL queries or JSON strings, raw string literals can simplify their representation by eliminating the need to escape special characters or use concatenation.

String sqlQuery = `SELECT * FROM customers WHERE age > 18`;

String jsonString = `{"name": "John Doe",
                     "age": 30,
                     "email": "johndoe@example.com"}`;

Limitations of raw string literals

While raw string literals offer convenience, they do have some limitations. Firstly, they cannot contain a backtick within the string itself, as it is used to mark the beginning and end of the literal. Additionally, the content of a raw string literal is not trimmed automatically, so leading and trailing spaces are preserved.

Conclusion

Raw string literals introduced in Java 12 provide a more convenient way to work with strings that contain multiple lines or special characters. They eliminate the need for escape sequences, making the code more readable and maintainable. Although they have some limitations, raw string literals are a valuable addition to the Java language.

References:

#javaprogramming #stringliterals