Java StringBuilder.replace() – Syntax & Examples

Java StringBuilder.replace() – Examples

In this tutorial, we will learn about the Java StringBuilder.replace() function, and learn how to use this function to replace a subsequence in StringBuilder with the specified string, with the help of examples.

replace(int start, int end, String str)

StringBuilder.replace() removes characters in of this sequence, that are present in the index range from start to end, and then inserts the string at index start. So, basically, it replaces the subsequence in the StringBuilder with the specified string.

Syntax

The syntax of replace() function is

replace(int start, int end, String str)

where

Parameter	Description
start	The index in this StringBuilder from which replacement will take place.
end	The index in this StringBuilder up until which replacement will take place.
str	The string that will replace the subsequence in StringBuilder.

Returns

The function returns StringBuilder

Example 1 – replace(start, end, str)

In this example, we will take a StringBuilder with sequence "abcdefghijklm", delete characters in the ranges [2, 5) and insert the string "ABCDEF" at index 2. So, we are replacing a subsequence with the string.

Java Program

public class Example { 
    public static void main(String[] args) { 
        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder("abcdefghijklm");
        System.out.println("Before replace : " + stringBuilder.toString());
        
        int start = 2;
        int end = 5;
        String str = "ABCDEF";
        stringBuilder.replace(start, end, str);
        System.out.println("After replace  : " + stringBuilder.toString());
    }
}

Output

Before replace : abcdefghijklm
After replace  : abABCDEFfghijklm

Example 2 – replace(start, end, str) – end > length

In this example, we will give value of end such that it is greater than length of StringBuilder. replace() deletes all the chars starting from index start until the length of StringBuilder, and replaces this subsequence with the specified string.

Java Program

public class Example { 
    public static void main(String[] args) { 
        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder("abcdefghijklm");
        System.out.println("Before replace : " + stringBuilder.toString());
        
        int start = 2;
        int end = 50;
        String str = "ABCDEF";
        stringBuilder.replace(start, end, str);
        System.out.println("After replace  : " + stringBuilder.toString());
    }
}

Output

Before replace : abcdefghijklm
After replace  : abABCDEF

Example 3 – replace(start, end, str) – start < 0

In this example, we will give the index value start as -2. Since the start is out of bounds for the StringBuilder, replace() throws java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException.

Java Program

public class Example { 
    public static void main(String[] args) { 
        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder("abcdefghijklm");
        System.out.println("Before replace : " + stringBuilder.toString());
        
        int start = -2;
        int end = 5;
        String str = "ABCDEF";
        stringBuilder.replace(start, end, str);
        System.out.println("After replace  : " + stringBuilder.toString());
    }
}

Output

Before replace : abcdefghijklm
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException: start -2, end 5, length 13
	at java.base/java.lang.AbstractStringBuilder.checkRangeSIOOBE(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/java.lang.AbstractStringBuilder.replace(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/java.lang.StringBuilder.replace(Unknown Source)
	at Example.main(Example.java:9)

Conclusion

In this Java Tutorial, we have learnt the syntax of Java StringBuilder.replace() function, and also learnt how to use this function with the help of examples.