A Java enum toString example

Java enum FAQ: Can you share a Java enum toString example?

I haven’t tried this before, but I was just working on several Java enum examples (Java enum examples tutorial, Java enum switch example), and I thought I’d take a look at the Java enum toString behavior.

To that end I wrote the following Java enum “toString” example class:

/**
 * A Java enum toString example.
 * @author alvin alexander, alvinalexander.com
 */
public class JavaEnumToStringExample
{

  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
    // loop through the enum values, calling the
    // enum toString method for each enum constant
    for (Day d: Day.values())
    {
      System.out.println(d);
    }
  }
}

enum Day
{
  SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY 
}

This enum toString example class iterates through the Day enum with the enum for loop shown here:

// this enum for loop iterates through each constant in the
// Day enum, implicitly calling the toString method for each enum
// constant that is passed into the println method:
for (Day d: Day.values())
{
  System.out.println(d);
}

Java enum toString program output

The output from the enum toString example looks like this:

SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY

Calling the enum toString method explicitly

In the enum for loop code above, I mentioned that the toString method is being called implicitly. If you prefer to call the enum toString method explicitly, you can just change the print statement, as shown here:

for (Day d: Day.values())
{
  System.out.println(d.toString());
}

Summary

Again, nothing major here, I just wanted to explore the enum toString behavior while I was in the neighborhood. If you have any questions, comments, or more complicated "enum toString" examples you'd like to share, feel free to leave a note in the comments section below.

Java enum toString example - What's Related

As I finish up my Java enum series, including this Java enum toString example, here's a collection of the Java enum tutorials I've put together during the last week. I hope you find them helpful:

• Java enum tutorial/examples
• Java enum switch example
• Java enum for loop tutorial