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Android Build an Interactive Story App (Retired) Finishing the User Interface Using a Model in the Controller

Elie Haykal
Elie Haykal
8,163 Points
Posted by Elie Haykal
Elie Haykal
8,163 Points

Converting Int to String Best Practice

Hello everyone,

What is considered the best way to convert integers to strings.

I have been using the +"" but I believe there are more direct and clear ways to do it.

Checking online, I've come across syntas as follows:

Integer.toString(i)

I'd love some expert advice,

LandingActivity.java 
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;

public class LandingActivity extends Activity {

    public Button mThrustButton;
    public TextView mTypeLabel;
    public EditText mPassengersField;

    public Spaceship mSpaceship;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_landing);

        mThrustButton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.thrustButton);
        mTypeLabel = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.typeTextView);
        mPassengersField = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.passengersEditText);

        // Add your code here!
    }
}
Spaceship.java 
public class Spaceship {
    private String mType;
    private int mNumPassengers = 0;

    public String getType() {
      return mType;
    }

    public void setType(String type) {
      mType = type;
    }

    public int getNumPassengers() {
      return mNumPassengers;
    }

    public void setNumPassengers(int numPassengers) {
      mNumPassengers = numPassengers;
    }

    public Spaceship() {
      mType = "SHUTTLE";
    }

    public Spaceship(String type) {
      mType = type;
    }
}

1 Answer

Jacob Bergdahl
Jacob Bergdahl
29,118 Points
Jacob Bergdahl
Jacob Bergdahl
29,118 Points

The concatenating way (String = "" + int) is acceptable, but a sort of bad practice and is by some considered bad code smell, but it's easy, especially for someone just starting out. Indeed, Integer.toString(number) is a bit more common and is considered best practice. Another best practice method that I personally use a lot is String.valueOf(number). It's easy, clean and works for multiple datatypes without changing the prefix.