Why the output is different between JDK 1.4 and 1.5?

Question

I\'m running this code with JDK 1.4 and 1.5 and get different results. Why is it the case?

String str = \"\";
int test = 3;

str = String.valueOf(test);
System.o         


        

Answer 1

From java 5 string.valueof() is expected to return new string. rather than intern(ed) (shared) string!

Consider following example

    int test = 3;
    String str = String.valueOf(test);
    String str2 = String.valueOf(test);

    if(str == str2)
        System.out.println("valueOf return interned string");
    else
        System.out.println("valueOf does not return interned string");

Output in java >=5

valueOf does not return interned string

But in java 4 output is

valueOf return interned string

That explains the behavior!