MATHEMATICAL FUNCTIONS, CHARACTERS, AND STRINGS - Introduction to Java Programming: Comprehensive Version - page 133

Enter three words separated by spaces: Welcome to Java
s1 is Welcome
s2 is to
s3 is Java

The next() method reads a string that ends with a whitespace character. You can use
the nextLine() method to read an entire line of text. The nextLine() method reads a
string that ends with the Enter key pressed. For example, the following statements read a
line of text.

whitespace character

Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println( "Enter a line: " );
String s = input.nextLine();
System.out.println( "The line entered is " + s);

Enter a line: Welcome to Java
The line entered is Welcome to Java

Important Caution
To avoid input errors , do not use nextLine() after nextByte() , nextShort() ,
nextInt() , nextLong() , nextFloat() , nextDouble() , or next() . The
reasons will be explained in Section 12.11.4, 'How Does Scanner Work?'

avoid input errors

4.4.6 Reading a Character from the Console
To read a character from the console, use the nextLine() method to read a string and then
invoke the charAt(0) method on the string to return a character. For example, the following
code reads a character from the keyboard:

Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print( "Enter a character: " );
String s = input.nextLine();
char ch = s.charAt( 0 );
System.out.println( "The character entered is " + ch);

4.4.7 Comparing Strings
The String class contains the methods as shown in Table 4.8 for comparing two strings.

T ABLE 4.8 Comparison Methods for String Objects

Method Description

equals(s1)

Returns true if this string is equal to string s1 .

equalsIgnoreCase(s1)

Returns true if this string is equal to string s1 ; it is case insensitive.

compareTo(s1)

Returns an integer greater than 0, equal to 0, or less than 0 to indicate whether this string is greater
than, equal to, or less than s1 .

compareToIgnoreCase(s1)

Same as compareTo except that the comparison is case insensitive.

startsWith(prefix)

Returns true if this string starts with the specified prefix.

endsWith(suffix)

Returns true if this string ends with the specified suffix.

contains(s1)

Returns true if s1 is a substring in this string.