The toString Method

The toString() method is used to return a string representation of an object. By default, the toString() method returns a string that consists of the class name, an "@" symbol, and the object's hash code in hexadecimal format. All objects have a toString method that returns the class name and a hash of the object's memory address. We can override the default method with our own to print out more useful information.

The toString() method in Java is a special method that helps in converting an object into a String. It's like giving a brief description or summary of an object in a readable text form.

Imagine you have a toy robot. This robot has various features like its name, color, and size. Now, if someone asks you to describe your robot in a sentence, you might say something like, "This is a small, red robot named Robo." You have essentially converted the concept of your robot into a simple, understandable string of words.

In Java, every object can have a toString() method, and this method does something similar. It takes the information or the state of an object and puts it into a readable format (a string). This is very useful when you want to quickly see what an object represents or when you want to print out an object's information for logging or debugging purposes.

By default, the toString() method returns a string that includes the class name and the object's hash code (a unique identifier for the object). However, you can override this method to return more meaningful information about the object, like its properties and values. This custom toString() would then provide a summary of the object in a way that's easy to understand.

Use Case:

Overriding the toString method in Java is a common practice for providing a meaningful string representation of an object. This can be especially useful for debugging, logging, or simply displaying object information in a more readable and user-friendly format

However, it is common practice to override the toString() method to provide a more meaningful string representation of an object. To override the toString() method, you can define the method in your class and return a string that includes the values of the object's fields.

public class Person {
  private String name;
  private int age;

  public Person(String name, int age) {
    this.name = name;
    this.age = age;
  }

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    return "Person{name='" + name + "', age=" + age + "}";
  }
}

In this example, the toString() method of the Person class has been overridden to return a string that includes the name and age fields of the person object.

You can call the toString() method on an object by using the object's name followed by the method name, like this:

Person person = new Person("John Doe", 30);
String str = person.toString();
System.out.println(str); // output: Person{name='John Doe', age=30}

You can also call the toString() method implicitly by passing an object to a method that expects a string, like this:

Person person = new Person("John Doe", 30);
System.out.println(person); // output: Person{name='John Doe', age=30}