.format()

Christine_Yang's avatar
Published Jul 6, 2022
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The .format() method returns a string with additional arguments in a specifically defined format.

Syntax

string.format(String str, ...args);
  • str is of type String and includes a format specifier.
  • args is an optional argument, which can be of any data type, to be returned with the first string argument.

Some common format specifiers include:

Format Specifier Type
%b boolean
%c char
%d integer
%f float
%s string

See Java’s similar .printf() method for more information on format specifiers.

Note: NullPointerException will be thrown if the format is null. An IllegalFormatException will be thrown if the specifier and argument do not match or the specifier does not exist.

Example

The following example prints out three strings. The first parameter includes a format specifier(s) within a string and has one or two arguments:

class MyFormat {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String name = "Katara";
String job = "bender";
System.out.println(String.format("%s is a water %s.", name, job));
System.out.println(String.format("%d years!", 100));
System.out.println(String.format("%s", "Yip yip."));
}
}

This outputs the following:

Katara is a water bender.
100 years!
Yip yip.

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