Arrays.toString Java – Array to String Examples

Arrays.toString Java. In Java, the Arrays.toString() method is given to convert the array to string. Most of the time the toString() method of Arrays class is used to display the array elements.

There are many overloaded forms of the toString() method in the Arrays class. The Arrays.toString() with all forms were introduced in the Java1.5 version. They are listed here:-

  • public static String toString(byte[] a)
  • public static String toString(short[] a)
  • public static String toString(int[] a)
  • public static String toString(long[] a)
  • public static String toString(float[] a)
  • public static String toString(double[] a)
  • public static String toString(char[] a)
  • public static String toString(boolean[] a)
  • public static String toString(Object[] a)

The Arrays.toString() method returns a string representation of the contents of the specified array. The string representation consists of a list of the array’s elements, enclosed in square brackets “[]” and the adjacent elements are separated by the characters “, ” (a comma followed by a space). It Returns “null” if the passed array is null.

Arrays to String in Java Examples

Let us see a Java program to demonstrate the Arrays.toString() method.

import java.util.Arrays;
public class ArrayTest {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    // int array
    int[] arr = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
    System.out.println("Array = " + Arrays.toString(arr));
  }
}

Output:-

Array = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]

Now, let us demonstrate the byte, short, long, float, double, char, boolean array.

// byte array
byte[] byteArr = {11, 12, 13, 14, 15};
System.out.println("Byte Array = " + Arrays.toString(byteArr));

Byte Array = [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]

// short array
short[] shortArr = {100, 200, 300, 400, 500};
System.out.println("Short Array = " + Arrays.toString(shortArr));

Short Array = [100, 200, 300, 400, 500]

// long array
long[] longArr = {999999999, 10, 500, -888888888, 0};
System.out.println("Long Array = " + Arrays.toString(longArr));

Long Array = [999999999, 10, 500, -888888888, 0]

// float array
float[] floatArr = {10.5f, 15.9f, 500, -88888, 0.9f};
System.out.println("Float Array = " + Arrays.toString(floatArr));

Float Array = [10.5, 15.9, 500.0, -88888.0, 0.9]

// double array
double[] doubleArr = {10.5, 15.9, 500, -88888, 0.9};
System.out.println("Double Array = " + Arrays.toString(doubleArr));

Double Array = [10.5, 15.9, 500.0, -88888.0, 0.9]

// char array
char[] charArr = {'K','n','o','w','P','r','o','g','r',97,'m'};
System.out.println("Char Array = " + Arrays.toString(charArr));

Char Array = [K, n, o, w, P, r, o, g, r, a, m]

// boolean array
boolean[] boolArr = {true, false, true, true, false};
System.out.println("Boolean Array = " + Arrays.toString(boolArr));

Boolean Array = [true, false, true, true, false]

Example of Arrays.toString() with Object Array

In the case of an Object Array, if the array contains other arrays as elements, they are converted to strings by the Object.toString() method inherited from Object, which describes their identities rather than their contents. Example:-

// Student class
class Student {
   int idNum;
   String name;
}

Display Object array using Arrays.toString()

import java.util.Arrays;
public class Collage {
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      // array of Student objects
      Student[] st = {new Student(), new Student(), new Student()};
      System.out.println("Student Array = " + Arrays.toString(st));
   }
}

Output:-

Student Array = [Student@6ff3c5b5, Student@3764951d, Student@4b1210ee]

The above outputs are not meaningful messages. It should display Student object data, rather than its references. If we want to return the object’s state from this method we must override it in the subclass. Based on our requirement we can override the toString() method in our class to provide our own representation. See:- How to override toString() in Java

class Student {
   int idNum;
   String name;
   
   @Override
   public String toString() {
      return "[" + idNum + ", " + name + "]";
   }
}

After adding toString() in Student class, again run the Collage class and you will get the following output.

Student Array = [[0, null], [0, null], [0, null]]

Let us see a complete Java program with an object array and displaying it through Arrays.toString() method.

Student class

class Student {
  private int idNum;
  private String name;
  
  // constructor  
  public Student(int idNum, String name) {
    this.idNum = idNum;
    this.name = name;
  }

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    return "[" + idNum + ", " + name + "]";
  }
}

User class or test class,

import java.util.Arrays;
public class Collage {
  public static void main(String[] args) {

    // array of Student objects
    Student[] st = new Student[3];
    
    // initialize Student object
    st[0] = new Student(100, "Emma");
    st[1] = new Student(110, "Noah");
    st[2] = new Student(235, "Amelia");
    
    // display Student details
    System.out.println("Student Array = " + Arrays.toString(st));
  }
}

Output:-

Student Array = [[100, Emma], [110, Noah], [235, Amelia]]

How toString() is implemented?

Whenever we call the toString() method of Arrays class then,

  • It checks if the passed argument is null or not? If it is null then it returns “null”.
  • Calculate the length of the array. iMax = a.length-1
  • If iMax is -1 (i.e. the length of the array is 0) then it returns “[]”.
  • It creates an object of StringBuilder class (let us call it, object b).
  • Append the StringBuilder object b by adding “[“.
  • Iterate through the array, and append the object b by adding the next array element. The elements are converted to strings by String.valueOf().
  • Add “, ” (one comma and one space) after every array element.
  • After adding all array elements, add “]” to the b object.
  • Convert StringBuilder object b to String class object and return it.

The Arrays.toString() method with int[] array argument is implemented as,

public static String toString(int[] a) {
    if (a == null)
        return "null";
    int iMax = a.length - 1;
    if (iMax == -1)
        return "[]";

    StringBuilder b = new StringBuilder();
    b.append('[');
    for (int i = 0; ; i++) {
        b.append(a[i]);
        if (i == iMax)
            return b.append(']').toString();
        b.append(", ");
    }
}

The remaining overloaded forms of the Arrays.toString() method are also implemented in a very similar way. 

Note:- Arrays.toString() method is capable of converting single dimension array to string, but it can’t convert multidimensional Java array to string. For converting the multidimensional array to string deepToString() method is given in the Arrays class. In Print Matrix or 2D array in Java we had discussed how to use Arrays.deepToString() to display 2D array. In a 3D array in Java, you can see how to use deepToString() to convert three-dimensional array to Java.

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