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String vs StringBuilder vs StringBuffer in Java
Last Updated : 02 Apr, 2024
A string is a sequence of characters. In Java, objects of String are immutable
which means a constant and cannot be changed once created. Initializing a String is
one of the important pillars required as a pre-requisite with deeper understanding.

Comparison between String, StringBuilder, and StringBuffer

Feature

String

StringBuilder

StringBuffer

Introduction

Introduced in JDK 1.0

Introduced in JDK 1.5

Introduced in JDK 1.0

Mutability

Immutable

Mutable

Mutable

Thread Safety

Thread Safe

Not Thread Safe

Thread Safe

Memory Efficiency

High

Efficient
Less Efficient

Performance

High(No-Synchronization)

High(No-Synchronization)

Low(Due to Synchronization)

Usage

This is used when we want immutability.

This is used when Thread safety is not required.

This is used when Thread safety is required.

Now, we will be justifying. Let us do consider the below code with three
concatenation functions with three different types of parameters, String,
StringBuffer, and StringBuilder. Let us clear out the understanding between them
via a single Java program below from which we will be drawing out conclusions from
the output generated, to figure out differences between String vs StringBuilder vs
StringBuffer in Java.

Example

// Java program to demonstrate difference between

// String, StringBuilder and StringBuffer

// Main class
class GFG {

// Method 1
// Concatenates to String
public static void concat1(String s1)
{
s1 = s1 + "forgeeks";
}

// Method 2
// Concatenates to StringBuilder
public static void concat2(StringBuilder s2)
{
s2.append("forgeeks");
}

// Method 3
// Concatenates to StringBuffer
public static void concat3(StringBuffer s3)
{
s3.append("forgeeks");
}

// Method 4
// Main driver method
public static void main(String[] args)
{
 // Custom input string
// String 1
String s1 = "Geeks";

// Calling above defined method

concat1(s1);

// s1 is not changed
System.out.println("String: " + s1);

// String 1
StringBuilder s2 = new StringBuilder("Geeks");

// Calling above defined method

concat2(s2);

// s2 is changed
System.out.println("StringBuilder: " + s2);

// String 3
StringBuffer s3 = new StringBuffer("Geeks");

// Calling above defined method

concat3(s3);

// s3 is changed
System.out.println("StringBuffer: " + s3);
}
}

Output
String: Geeks
StringBuilder: Geeksforgeeks
StringBuffer: Geeksforgeeks
Output explanation:

Concat1: In this method, we pass a string “Geeks” and perform “s1 = s1 +

”forgeeks”. The string passed from main() is not changed, this is due to the fact
that String is immutable. Altering the value of string creates another object and
s1 in concat1() stores reference of the new string. References s1 in main() and
cocat1() refer to different strings.
Concat2: In this method, we pass a string “Geeks” and perform
“s2.append(“forgeeks”)” which changes the actual value of the string (in main) to
“Geeksforgeeks”. This is due to the simple fact that StringBuilder is mutable and
hence changes its value.
Concat3: StringBuilder is similar and can be compatible at all places to
StringBuffer except for the key difference of thread safety. StringBuffer is
thread-safe while StringBuilder does not guarantee thread safety which means
synchronized methods are present in StringBuffer making control of one thread
access at a time while it is not seen in StringBuilder, hence thread-unsafe.

Note: Geeks now you must be wondering when to use which one, do refer below as
follows:

If a string is going to remain constant throughout the program, then use the String
class object because a String object is immutable.
If a string can change (for example: lots of logic and operations in the
construction of the string) and will only be accessed from a single thread, using a
StringBuilder is good enough.
If a string can change and will be accessed from multiple threads, use a
StringBuffer because StringBuffer is synchronous, so you have thread-safety.
If you don’t want thread-safety than you can also go with StringBuilder class as it
is not synchronized.
Conversion between types of strings in Java
Sometimes there is a need for converting a string object of different classes like
String, StringBuffer, StringBuilder to one another. Below are some techniques to do
the same. Let us do cover all use cases s follows:

From String to StringBuffer and StringBuilder

From StringBuffer and StringBuilder to String
From StringBuffer to StringBuilder or vice-versa
Case 1: From String to StringBuffer and StringBuilder
This one is an easy way out as we can directly pass the String class object to
StringBuffer and StringBuilder class constructors. As the String class is immutable
in java, so for editing a string, we can perform the same by converting it to
StringBuffer or StringBuilder class objects.

Example

// Java program to demonstrate conversion from

// String to StringBuffer and StringBuilder

// Main class
public class GFG {

// Main driver method

public static void main(String[] args)
{
// Custom input string
String str = "Geeks";

// Converting String object to StringBuffer object

// by
// creating object of StringBuffer class
StringBuffer sbr = new StringBuffer(str);

// Reversing the string

sbr.reverse();

// Printing the reversed string

System.out.println(sbr);

// Converting String object to StringBuilder object

StringBuilder sbl = new StringBuilder(str);

// Adding it to string using append() method

sbl.append("ForGeeks");

// Print and display the above appended string

System.out.println(sbl);
}
}

Output
skeeG
GeeksForGeeks
Case 2: From StringBuffer and StringBuilder to String
This conversion can be performed using toString() method which is overridden in
both StringBuffer and StringBuilder classes.
Below is the java program to demonstrate the same. Note that while we use
toString() method, a new String object(in Heap area) is allocated and initialized
to the character sequence currently represented by the StringBuffer object, which
means the subsequent changes to the StringBuffer object do not affect the contents
of the String object.

Example

// Java Program to Demonstrate Conversion from

// String to StringBuffer and StringBuilder

// Main class
public class GFG {

// Main driver method

public static void main(String[] args)
{
// Creating objects of StringBuffer class
StringBuffer sbr = new StringBuffer("Geeks");
StringBuilder sbdr = new StringBuilder("Hello");

// Converting StringBuffer object to String

// using toString() method
String str = sbr.toString();

// Printing the above string

System.out.println(
"StringBuffer object to String : ");
System.out.println(str);

// Converting StringBuilder object to String

String str1 = sbdr.toString();

// Printing the above string

System.out.println(
"StringBuilder object to String : ");
System.out.println(str1);

// Changing StringBuffer object sbr

// but String object(str) doesn't change
sbr.append("ForGeeks");

// Printing the above two strings on console

System.out.println(sbr);
System.out.println(str);
}
}

Output
StringBuffer object to String :
Geeks
StringBuilder object to String :
Hello
GeeksForGeeks
Geeks
Case 3: From StringBuffer to StringBuilder or vice-versa
This conversion is tricky. There is no direct way to convert the same. In this
case, We can use a String class object. We first convert the
StringBuffer/StringBuilder object to String using toString() method and then from
String to StringBuilder/StringBuffer using constructors.

Example

// Java program to Demonstrate conversion from

// String to StringBuffer and StringBuilder

// Main class
public class GFG {

// Main driver method

public static void main(String[] args)
{
// Creating object of StringBuffer class and
// passing our input string to it
StringBuffer sbr = new StringBuffer("Geeks");

// Storing value StringBuffer object in String and

// henceforth converting StringBuffer object to
// StringBuilder class
String str = sbr.toString();
StringBuilder sbl = new StringBuilder(str);

// Printing the StringBuilder object on console

System.out.println(sbl);
}
}

Output
Geeks
From the above three use-cases we can conclude out below pointers:

Objects of String are immutable, and objects of StringBuffer and StringBuilder are
mutable.
StringBuffer and StringBuilder are similar, but StringBuilder is faster and
preferred over StringBuffer for the single-threaded program. If thread safety is
needed, then StringBuffer is used.
Related Article: Reverse a String in Java (5 Different Ways)

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