Question

I want to ask that if we should externalize string literals used in toString() implementations. Let me give an example :-

Suppose this is my toString() implementation :-

@Override
public String toString() {
 return "First Name: " + firstName + "," + "Last Name: " + lastName;
}

Here, should we externalize “First Name: ” & “Last Name: ” or not?

Another scenario is with Validation Strings. If I am creating Name Object with first and last name with first name can not be null. Then I put the following check in my constructor :-

if(firstName == null) {
 throw new NullPointerException("firstName is null");
} 

Should we externalize “firstName is null” or not?

Thanks

Answer 1

You really only need to do that if you want to allow debugging messages to be internationalized since toString shouldn’t really be displayed to users