Let's talk about strings in Java. To begin, create a new NetBeans project, name it StringsInJava, and enter the main() function. Then, declare two variables: a character called c and String called s. Right away, it becomes clear to us that String is a little different. You'll notice that NetBeans did not choose to color code our String keyword with blue, as it would have done if we were declaring a variable of a primitive type:
This is because String, unlike char, is not a primitive type. String is what we call a class. Classes are the backbone of object-oriented programming. Just as we can declare variables of a primitive type, we can also declare variables of a class, which are called instances. In our program, the variable s is an instance of the String class. Unlike variables of primitive types, instances of a class can contain their own special methodologies...