How do I convert from int to String?

Question

I\'m working on a project where all conversions from int to String are done like this:

int i = 5;
String strI = \"\" + i;
         


        

Answer 1

The expression

"" + i

leads to string conversion of i at runtime. The overall type of the expression is String. i is first converted to an Integer object (new Integer(i)), then String.valueOf(Object obj) is called. So it is equivalent to

"" + String.valueOf(new Integer(i));

Obviously, this is slightly less performant than just calling String.valueOf(new Integer(i)) which will produce the very same result.

The advantage of ""+i is that typing is easier/faster and some people might think, that it's easier to read. It is not a code smell as it does not indicate any deeper problem.

(Reference: JLS 15.8.1)