CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vb.net
Travis Miller
Travis Miller

Reputation: 23

Using StringBuilder for very few concatenations

Everyone (or everyone who has been taught) knows that StringBuilder is the way to go for dynamically building a string with many concatenations.

Due to (I must confess) mostly laziness, if I am doing a few concatenations (say, around 3), I will use a plain old String. I guess I just can't handle having that extra instantiation and toString.

Is using a plain old String in this scenario poor practice? Is there any extra overhead for using a StringBuilder vs. a String in this context, or would StringBuilder still be more efficient?

Specific Examples:

    Dim PractitionerName As String = CurrentApplicant.FirstName
    If CurrentApplicant.Demographics.MiddleInitial <> "" Then
        PractitionerName &= " " & CurrentApplicant.Demographics.MiddleInitial
    End If
    If CurrentApplicant.LastName <> "" Then
        PractitionerName &= " " & CurrentApplicant.LastName
    End If

    Dim Endorsements As String = ""
    For Each Endorsement As IowaLicensure.LicenseEndorsement In PractitionerLicense.LicenseEndorsements
        Endorsements &= Endorsement.EndorsementType.Description & VbCrLf
    Next

Upvotes: 1

Views: 63

Answers (1)

Ňɏssa P&#248;ngjǣrdenlarp
Ňɏssa P&#248;ngjǣrdenlarp

Reputation: 38915

The devil is in the details, but you may be able to use something like this in some cases:

If bePolite Then
    Return String.Format("{0} {1} {2} {3}", Title, FirstN, MiddleI, LastN)
    ' "Doctor Jonas K Salk"
Else
    Return String.Format("{0}, {1}", LastN, FirstN) 
    ' "Jones, Sally"
End If

The For Each scenario is trickier but something similar can sometimes be done from one of the underlying classes. In most cases, not much will likely be saved unless there is a larger loop iterating.

Upvotes: 2

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