How Can I Efficiently Create Multiline Strings in Java?

Does Java have support for multiline strings?

For those who are familiar with Perl, the "here-document" serves as a useful tool for creating multiline strings within source code. However, in Java, manually concatenating strings using quotes and plus signs on each line can be tedious and cumbersome.

While there is no direct equivalent to the "here-document" syntax in Java, there are several alternatives to consider for creating multiline strings efficiently.

1. String Concatenation with Plus Operator ( )

The most straightforward method is manually concatenating strings with the plus operator ( ). This involves explicitly adding line breaks as needed using the string literal ""n"":

String s = "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times\n"
         + "it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness\n"
         + "it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity\n"
         + "it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness\n"
         + "it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair\n"
         + "we had everything before us, we had nothing before us";

2. StringBuilder.append()

The StringBuilder class provides a method called append() that can be used to append strings or other data to a string builder. While this technique may appear less concise than using the plus operator, it offers certain advantages, such as enhanced performance and thread safety.

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.append("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times");
sb.append("it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness");
// ...
String s = sb.toString();

3. String.join()

Introduced in Java 8, String.join() allows for multiple strings to be combined into a single string using a specified delimiter. To create a multiline string, the delimiter can be set to represent the desired line breaks:

String s = String.join("\n"
         , "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
         , "it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness"
         // ...
);

4. String.format()

String.format() is a powerful tool for formatting strings based on a pattern. It can also be used to create multiline strings by incorporating newline characters into the formatting pattern:

String s = String.format("%s\n%s\n%s\n%s\n%s\n%s"
         , "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
         , "it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness"
         // ...
);

5. Storing in Text File

For particularly large strings, it may be beneficial to store the content in a separate text file and then read the contents of the file into a string. This approach can help avoid bloating class files with large string literals.

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