Replace messy string concatenation with clean, readable text blocks
TL;DR: You can eliminate verbose string concatenation and escape sequences by using text blocks for multi-line content.
Problems Addressed 😔
- Poor code readability
- Excessive escape sequences
- String concatenation complexity
- Maintenance difficulties
- Code verbosity
- Translation Problems
- Indentation issues
- Complex formatting
- No, Speed is seldom a real problem unless you are a premature optimizator
Related Code Smells 💨
Steps 👣
- Identify multi-line string concatenations or strings with excessive escape sequences
- Replace opening quote and concatenation operators with triple quotes (""")
- Remove escape sequences for quotes and newlines
- Adjust indentation to match your code style
- Add .strip() for single-line regex patterns or when trailing newlines cause issues
Sample Code 💻
Before 🚨
public class QueryBuilder {
public String buildEmployeeQuery() {
String sql = "SELECT emp.employee_id, " +
"emp.first_name, emp.last_name, " +
" dept.department_name, " +
"emp.salary " +
"FROM employees emp " +
"JOIN departments dept ON " +
"emp.department_id = " +
"dept.department_id " +
"WHERE emp.salary > ? " +
" AND dept.location = ? " +
"ORDER BY emp.salary DESC";
return sql;
}
public String buildJsonPayload(String name, int age) {
String json = "{\n" +
" \"name\": \"" + name + "\",\n" +
" \"age\": " + age + ",\n" +
" \"address\": {\n" +
" \"street\": " +
"\"123 Main St\",\n" +
" \"city\": \"New York\"\n" +
" }\n" +
"}";
return json;
}
}
After 👉
public class QueryBuilder {
public String buildEmployeeQuery() {
// 1. Identify multi-line string concatenations or strings
// with excessive escape sequences
// 2. Replace opening quote and concatenation operators
// with triple quotes (""")
// 3. Remove escape sequences for quotes and newlines
// 4. Adjust indentation to match your code style
// 5. Add .strip() for single-line regex patterns or
// when trailing newlines cause issues
// protip: If you put a known prefix
// after the string delimiter
// many IDEs will adjust the syntax highlighter and linter
// in this case SQL
String sql = """SQL
SELECT emp.employee_id, emp.first_name,
emp.last_name,
dept.department_name, emp.salary
FROM employees emp
JOIN departments dept ON
emp.department_id = dept.department_id
WHERE emp.salary > ?
AND dept.location = ?
ORDER BY emp.salary DESC
""";
return sql;
}
public String buildJsonPayload(String name, int age) {
// 1. Identified concatenation with escape sequences
// 2. Replaced with text block using """
// 3. Removed \" and \n escapes
// 4. Preserved natural indentation
// 5. No .strip() needed here
// protip: If you put a known prefix
// after the string delimiter
// many IDEs will adjust the syntax highlighter and linter
// in this case json5
String json = """json5
{
"name": "%s",
"age": %d,
"address": {
"street": "123 Main St",
"city": "New York"
}
}
""".formatted(name, age);
return json;
}
}
Type 📝
[X] Semi-Automatic
Safety 🛡️
This refactoring is safe.
It does not change the runtime behavior of strings; it only cleans up syntax and formatting.
You follow compilation rules carefully to avoid errors.
Why is the Code Better? ✨
You reduce code noise caused by concatenations and escape sequences.
The multi-line strings become easier to read and maintain. Indentation and formatting are preserved without manual adjustments, making your code more natural and less error-prone.
How Does it Improve the Bijection? 🗺️
You make the code closer to the real-world representation of the string content, preserving layout and format as seen by the developer.
This enhances the one-to-one mapping between intent and code, minimizing translation errors from concept to implementation.
Limitations ⚠️
Some languages still lack multi-line string mechanisms.
Examples of languages with full support:
| Language | Feature | Syntax | Docs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java | Text Blocks | """ |
https://openjdk.org/jeps/378 |
| Kotlin | Raw Strings | """ |
https://kotlinlang.org/docs/strings.html |
| Python | Triple-Quoted Strings |
""" / '''
|
https://docs.python.org/3/reference/lexical_analysis.html |
| JavaScript | Template Literals | ` ` |
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Template_literals |
| Go | Raw Strings | ` ` |
https://go.dev/ref/spec#String_literals |
| Swift | Multiline Strings | """ |
https://docs.swift.org/swift-book/documentation/the-swift-programming-language/stringsandcharacters |
| C# | Raw String Literals | """ |
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/strings/#raw-string-literals |
| Ruby | Heredocs | <<EOF |
https://ruby-doc.org/core/doc/syntax/literals_rdoc.html |
| PHP | Heredoc / Nowdoc | <<< |
https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php |
| Scala | Multiline Strings | """ |
https://docs.scala-lang.org/scala3/reference/changed-features/multiline-strings.html |
Refactor with AI 🤖
Suggested Prompt: 1. Identify multi-line string concatenations or strings with excessive escape sequences2. Replace opening quote and concatenation operators with triple quotes (""")3. Remove escape sequences for quotes and newlines4. Adjust indentation to match your code style5. Add .strip() for single-line regex patterns or when trailing newlines cause issues
| Without Proper Instructions | With Specific Instructions |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | ChatGPT |
| Claude | Claude |
| Perplexity | Perplexity |
| Copilot | Copilot |
| You | You |
| Gemini | Gemini |
| DeepSeek | DeepSeek |
| Meta AI | Meta AI |
| Grok | Grok |
| Qwen | Qwen |
Tags 🏷️
- Standards
Level 🔋
[X] Beginner
Related Refactorings 🔄
See also 📚
This article is part of the Refactoring Series.
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