Handling character strings in Java is supported through two final classes: String and StringBuffer. The String class implements immutable character strings, which are read-only once the string has been created and initialized, whereas the StringBuffer class implements dynamic character strings. All string literals in Java programs, are implemented as instances of String class. Strings in Java are 16-bit Unicode.

Note : In JDK 1.5+ you can use StringBuilder, which works exactly like StringBuffer, but it is faster and not thread-safe

The easiest way of creating a String object is using a string literal:

String str1 = "I cant be changed once created!";

A string literal is a reference to a String object. Since a string literal is a reference, it can be manipulated like any other String reference. i.e. it can be used to invoke methods of String class.

For example,

Int myLength =