Concat an integer to a String - use String literal or primitive from performance and memory point of view?

user1739658 picture user1739658 · Feb 9, 2013 · Viewed 54.7k times · Source

Option 1:

String newStr = someStr + 3 + "]";

Option 2:

String newStr = someStr + "3" + "]";

Which option is better with regards to performance, memory and general practice? What are some recommended tools/ways I can use to measure memory usage of my code and its performance (besides measuring the start time and the end time and calculate the difference)

Answer

Mikhail Vladimirov picture Mikhail Vladimirov · Feb 9, 2013

The first will become:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder (String.valueOf (someStr));
sb.append (3);
sb.append ("]");
String newStr = sb.toString ();

the second will become:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder (String.valueOf (someStr));
sb.append ("3");
sb.append ("]");
String newStr = sb.toString ();

Here is disassembly:

public String foo (String someStr)
{
    String newStr = someStr + 3 + "]";
    return newStr;
}

public String bar (String someStr)
{
    String newStr = someStr + "3" + "]";
    return newStr;
}

public java.lang.String foo(java.lang.String);
Code:
   0: new           #16                 // class java/lang/StringBuilder
   3: dup
   4: aload_1
   5: invokestatic  #18                 // Method java/lang/String.valueOf:(Ljava/lang/Object;)Ljava/lang/String;
   8: invokespecial #24                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder."<init>":(Ljava/lang/String;)V
  11: iconst_3
  12: invokevirtual #27                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder.append:(I)Ljava/lang/StringBuilder;
  15: ldc           #31                 // String ]
  17: invokevirtual #33                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder.append:(Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/lang/StringBuilder;
  20: invokevirtual #36                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder.toString:()Ljava/lang/String;
  23: astore_2
  24: aload_2
  25: areturn

public java.lang.String bar(java.lang.String);
Code:
   0: new           #16                 // class java/lang/StringBuilder
   3: dup
   4: aload_1
   5: invokestatic  #18                 // Method java/lang/String.valueOf:(Ljava/lang/Object;)Ljava/lang/String;
   8: invokespecial #24                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder."<init>":(Ljava/lang/String;)V
  11: ldc           #44                 // String 3
  13: invokevirtual #33                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder.append:(Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/lang/StringBuilder;
  16: ldc           #31                 // String ]
  18: invokevirtual #33                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder.append:(Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/lang/StringBuilder;
  21: invokevirtual #36                 // Method java/lang/StringBuilder.toString:()Ljava/lang/String;
  24: astore_2
  25: aload_2
  26: areturn