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Difference Between Array and String in Java

Java is one of the most popular programming languages. This article compares and illustrates the differences between array and string in Java.

The primary distinction between an Array and a String is that an Array is a data structure that includes a collection of elements with the same data type, whereas a String is a collection of characters. Arrays and strings are supported by programming languages, including C. An array is a data structure with a defined size that contains data items of the same kind. It is a group of variables with the same name and may retrieve the array index. It also indicates a list of items. String, in contrast, hand, is identical to the array but only contains characters. In those other words, it’s a string of letters used to represent a single data item.

What is an Array?

Many applications include vast volumes of data, and to handle such big amounts of information, we want a strong data type that allows for efficient data storage and access. This is when arrays come into play. Arrays are a sort of variable that refers to a consecutive collection of the like variables with a common name. It is a sequential collection of items with the same basic types with a common name. Defined, it provides a straightforward way of grouping together relevant information. Arrays in Java behave substantially differently from arrays in C/C.

What is a String?

A string is a series of characters represented as just a single piece of information that ends with the special character ‘0’. (null character). Strings are classes in Java and C , and they act differently. Strings are declared the same way as arrays, the only difference being the char type. A string is a continuous succession of values with the same name. Unlike arrays, Strings are immutable, meaning their contents cannot be changed once assigned. Once a value is assigned to a string, its original content cannot be modified. They are among the most commonly used classes in the programming paradigm.

Difference between Array and String

Definition

A fixed-size sequential collection of items with the same basic types is known as an array. It is a collection of variables of the same type that share the same name and may be used to express names or to list numbers. With a few exceptions, a string is comparable to an array. 

Storage

One of the most significant distinctions between being an array and a word is how they are kept in memory. An array is assigned a contiguous memory block, representing a single memory block. Array elements are sequentially stored at increasing memory regions. 

State

One important difference between the two would be that strings are immutable, which means that once a string object is allocated, its value cannot be modified in memory. Immutable refers specifically to an object’s state that cannot be changed after it is formed. 

Data Type

Another distinction between an array and a string is that an array may hold a collection of integers, pairs, floats, and so on, but strings can only store characters.

Size

Another distinction between Array & String is size. The size of an array is fixed. On the other hand, a string has a fixed size that may be altered while using a char reference.

Strings and Character Arrays

String ArraysCharacter Arrays
A string is a collection of characters expressed as an individual data type. A Character Array is a set of char data in sequential order.
The chart function may retrieve characters in a String at a certain index. The symbols in a Character Array could be retrieved in the same way they are from any other language.
The array of items is stored in contiguous memory in this case. Strings are stored on the heap in a separate memory space known as the String Constant pool.
The String Constant Pool contains all Strings.The Heap holds all Character Arrays.
The toCharArray() function of the String class may transform a String into a Character Array. For instance, string s = “GEEKS”; char [] ch = s.toCharArray();A String Constructor may be used to transform a Character Array into a String. For example, char[] a =’G’,’E’,’E’,’K’,’S’; String A = new String(a);
Password storage in Java is not recommended. In Java, this is the preferred method for saving passwords.