String Manipulation: Basic operations on strings
Strings are a fundamental data type in programming and are used to represent text. In this blog post, we will explore basic operations on strings, including concatenation, formatting, and common methods.
Concatenation
Concatenation is the process of combining two or more strings into a single string. In most programming languages, concatenation is done using the "+" operator.
String str1 = "Hello, ";
String str2 = "world!";
String result = str1 + str2;
System.out.println(result);
Output: Hello, world!
Formatting
String formatting allows you to insert variables or values into a string. This is commonly done using placeholders such as "%s" for strings and "%d" for integers.
String name = "Alice";
int age = 30;
String message = String.format("Hello, my name is %s and I am %d years old.", name, age);
System.out.println(message);
Output: Hello, my name is Alice and I am 30 years old.
Common methods
There are many built-in methods for manipulating strings, such as length()
, toUpperCase()
, toLowerCase()
, substring()
, and replace()
.
String str = "Hello, world!";
System.out.println(str.length());
System.out.println(str.toUpperCase());
System.out.println(str.toLowerCase());
System.out.println(str.substring(7));
System.out.println(str.replace("Hello", "Hi"));
Output: 12 HELLO, WORLD! hello, world! world! Hi, world!
Importance in interviews
String manipulation is a common topic in technical interviews, as it tests a candidate's understanding of basic programming concepts and problem-solving skills. Familiarity with string operations is essential for writing efficient and clean code.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding basic operations on strings, including concatenation, formatting, and common methods, is crucial for any programmer. By mastering these concepts, you can effectively manipulate text data and solve a wide range of programming problems.