If a char array is an Object in Java, why does printing it not display its hash code?

Question

Printing a char array does not display a hash code:

class IntChararrayTest{
    public static void main(String[] args){
        int intArray[] = {0,1,2};
            


        

Answer 1

System.out actually gives you an Object of PrintStream. and its println(params) has some overloaded methods which are implemented differently for different type of params.

This params if being a char[] provides the output as char[] elements like System.out.println(charArray); outputs abc but not the hashcode as in the case of int[] like System.out.println(intArray); outputs [I@19e0bfd.

PS :- All the array are treated as Object in Java.

See the Official Doc

Moreover, for printing array, always use the Arrays utility class. Its method Arrays.toString() should be preferably used for printing array objects.