How do I convert from int to String?

Question

I\'m working on a project where all conversions from int to String are done like this:

int i = 5;
String strI = \"\" + i;


        

Answer 1

It depends on how you want to use your String. This can help:

String total =  Integer.toString(123) + Double.toString(456.789);

Answer 2

As already pointed out Integer.toString() or String.valueOf() are the way to go. I was curious and did a quick benchmark:

Integer.toString(i) and String.valueOf(i) are basically identical in performance, with Integer.toString(i) being a tiny bit faster. However i + "" is 1.7 times slower.

import java.util.Random;

public class Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        long concat = 0;
        long valueOf = 0;
        long toString = 0;
        
        int iterations = 10000;
        int runs = 1000;
        for(int i = 0; i < runs; i++) {
            concat += concat(iterations);
            valueOf += valueOf(iterations);
            toString += to_String(iterations);
        }
        
        System.out.println("concat: " + concat/runs);
        System.out.println("valueOf: " + valueOf/runs);
        System.out.println("toString: " + toString/runs);
    }
    
    public static long concat(int iterations) {
        Random r = new Random(0);
        long start = System.nanoTime();
        for(int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
            String s = r.nextInt() + "";
        }
        return System.nanoTime() - start;
    }
    
    public static long valueOf(int iterations) {
        Random r = new Random(0);
        long start = System.nanoTime();
        for(int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
            String s = String.valueOf(r.nextInt());
        }
        return System.nanoTime() - start;
    }
    
    public static long to_String(int iterations) {
        Random r = new Random(0);
        long start = System.nanoTime();
        for(int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
            String s = Integer.toString(r.nextInt());
        }
        return System.nanoTime() - start;
    }
}

Output:

concat: 1004109
valueOf: 590978
toString: 587236

Answer 3

Try simple typecasting

char c = (char) i;

Answer 4

It's acceptable, but I've never written anything like that. I'd prefer this:

String strI = Integer.toString(i);

Answer 5

This technique was taught in an undergraduate level introduction-to-Java class I took over a decade ago. However, I should note that, IIRC, we hadn't yet gotten to the String and Integer class methods.

The technique is simple and quick to type. If all I'm doing is printing something, I'll use it (for example, System.out.println("" + i);. However, I think it's not the best way to do a conversion, as it takes a second of thought to realize what's going on when it's being used this way. Also, if performance is a concern, it seems slower (more below, as well as in other answers).

Personally, I prefer Integer.toString(), as it is obvious what's happening. String.valueOf() would be my second choice, as it seems to be confusing (witness the comments after darioo's answer).

Just for grins :) I wrote up classes to test the three techniques: "" + i, Integer.toString, and String.ValueOf. Each test just converted the ints from 1 to 10000 to Strings. I then ran each through the Linux time command five times. Integer.toString() was slightly faster than String.valueOf() once, they tied three times, and String.valueOf() was faster once; however, the difference was never more than a couple of milliseconds.

The "" + i technique was slower than both on every test except one, when it was 1 millisecond faster than Integer.toString() and 1 millisecond slower than String.valueOf() (obviously on the same test where String.valueOf() was faster than Integer.toString()). While it was usually only a couple milliseconds slower, there was one test where it was about 50 milliseconds slower. YMMV.

Answer 6

It's not only the optimization¹. I don't like

"" + i

because it does not express what I really want to do ².

I don't want to append an integer to an (empty) string. I want to convert an integer to string:

Integer.toString(i)

Or, not my prefered, but still better than concatenation, get a string representation of an object (integer):

String.valueOf(i)

^{1. For code that is called very often, like in loops, optimization sure is also a point for not using concatenation.}

^{2. this is not valid for use of real concatenation like in System.out.println("Index: " + i); or String id = "ID" + i;}