String & StringBuffer

Strings are immutable because it makes no sense to make them mutable. strings in real life are immutable:

is the word "mutable" the same as the word "camera", only with the letters changed, or is it a new, different word?

StringBuffer is mutable because otherwise it wouldn't work. you have to be able to add to it, and change it, by definition. that's what it's for

georgemca at 2007-7-15 5:45:29 >

I wish people would stop thinking of StringBuffer and StringBuilder as special kinds of Strings

the answer is that all raw data is inherently immutable. you can't change the value of 2 to be 1, you can only use 1 instead of 2.

of course, there are ways to mutate a string instance.....

georgemca at 2007-7-15 5:45:29 >