Java enum Strings

Java enum Strings

In this tutorial, we will learn about string values for enum constants. We will likewise learn to override default string value for enum constants with the help of examples.

Java enum Strings

Before you learn about enum strings, make sure to know about Java enum.

In Java, we can get the string portrayal of enum constants using the toString() method or the name() technique. For instance,

enum Size {
   SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE, EXTRALARGE
}

class Main {
   public static void main(String[] args) {

      System.out.println("string value of SMALL is " + Size.SMALL.toString());
      System.out.println("string value of MEDIUM is " + Size.MEDIUM.name());

   }
}

Output

string value of SMALL is SMALL
string value of MEDIUM is MEDIUM

In the above example, we have seen the default string representation of an enum constant is the name of the same constant.

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Change Default String Value of enums

We can change the default string representation of enum constants by overriding the toString() method. For example,

enum Size {
   SMALL {

      // overriding toString() for SMALL
      public String toString() {
        return "The size is small.";
      }
   },

   MEDIUM {

     // overriding toString() for MEDIUM
      public String toString() {
        return "The size is medium.";
      }
   };
}

class Main {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      System.out.println(Size.MEDIUM.toString());
   }
}

Output

The size is medium.

In the above program, we have created an enum Size. And we have overridden the toString() method for enum constants SMALL and MEDIUM.

Note: We cannot override the name() method. It is because the name() method is final.

To learn more, visit best ways to create enum String.

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Java OOP (III)