CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaintellij-idea
Jin.J
Jin.J

Reputation: 383

why is System.lineSeparator() deprecated?

The screenshot of my intelliJ IDE as I could not post a picture directly (by the way am using jdk 10) For some reason I need to output a String based on input and there might be new lines in the String. To make the program working on different platform I use a variable to store System.lineSeparator() and insert it when needed. But then I realized that intelliJ shows that it is deprecated. So my question is, why is this function deprecated? Is it a bad practice using line separators? What is the better way of doing this?

final String NEW_LINE = System.lineSeparator();
String output = "Line one" + NEW_LINE + "Line two";
WriteToFile(output);

update: the picture shows the warning in my intelliJ IDE. The problem might be caused by my configuration. According to answers below(thank you all for answering btw), maybe I should ask "Is it" before "why" next time.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 5679

Answers (4)

Alexis R.
Alexis R.

Reputation: 1

You can use System.getProperty with line.separator if your java version does not allow System.lineSeparator().

final String LINE_SEPARATOR = System.getProperty("line.separator");

Upvotes: 0

Bas Leijdekkers
Bas Leijdekkers

Reputation: 26577

Probably the System.lineSeparator() was configured to be annotated with @Deprecated by mistake. You can position the text cursor on the method call and press Alt+Enter and invoke Deannotate @java.lang.Deprecated to remove the annotation.

The Deannoate @java.lang.Deprecated intention

Upvotes: 1

Yassine Badache
Yassine Badache

Reputation: 1851

why is this function deprecated?

This is the choice implemented by either a plugin, an add-on or a configuration setting in your IntelliJ (as some comments pointed out, their IntelliJ does not strike it as deprecated). As far as I can see, the only choice for deprecating this would be that it may bring a compatibility error. However, from the Java System class documentation:

lineSeparator

public static String lineSeparator()

Returns the system-dependent line separator string. It always returns the same value - the initial value of the system property line.separator.

On UNIX systems, it returns "\n"; on Microsoft Windows systems it returns "\r\n".

There is no indication about deprecation of the System.lineSeparator(), as far as the version it was implemented (Java 7) and up until the last version available (Java 10). If it really burns your mind, you may want to ask the community directly.

Is it a bad practice using line separators?

Not at all (I may be wrong, as far as my knowledge goes), especially since you are using a line separator which is compatible with any system you are running your code on (theorically).

What is the better way of doing this?

I don't have any better advice about your choice on design regarding this piece of code. It seems that Michal Lonski has one, regarding that point.

Upvotes: 6

Michal Lonski
Michal Lonski

Reputation: 887

You can use String.format and %n:

String output = String.format("Line one%nLine two");

The %n is a platform-independent newline character.

Upvotes: 0

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