Why would you use Char as opposed to String?

Question

My question is related to Java but is quite general. When making such things as calculators I see people store the operator as a char as opposed to a string? Surely a string is easier to work with?

In said scenario are there any advantages of using char over string?

String uses a `char[]` instead of `String` – Peter Lawrey Dec 29 '13 at 14:18 — Peter Lawrey, Dec 29 '13 at 14:18

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 29 '13 at 12:49

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A char explicitly requires one character. It can't take two, nor zero, and not even a null. This increases type safety where this requirement is appropriate.

Also, using char is slightly faster than using String, in Java.

answered Dec 29 '13 at 12:49

Aleksandr Dubinsky

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+1, `Requirement is appropriate`. So the answer is it depends. – Suresh Atta Dec 29 '13 at 12:57

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 29 '13 at 12:49

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Also, char class has special method to check if the char is a digit and so on. Char takes less memory than a string because char is a value type and not a reference type. The char value will seat on the stack instead of the heap. Meaning faster reading and writing - better performence.

answered Dec 29 '13 at 12:49

Tal Malaki

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Good point about those methods. A single-character String can also emulate them with matches() and an appropriate [Unicode character class (or other regular expression).](www.regular-expressions.info/unicode.html) – Aleksandr Dubinsky Dec 29 '13 at 12:53

Why would you use Char as opposed to String?

2 Answers2