How do I get the last character of a string?

Question

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args)  {
        String s = "test string";
        //char lastChar = ???
    }   
}

You've got several questions mixed up together. Broadly, yes, `str.charAt(str.length() - 1)` is usually the last character in the string; but consider what happens if str is empty, or null. — Vance Maverick, Mar 02 '11 at 05:47
Its working fine. But logic of palidrome check is doesn't sound correct, please also mention what is the error you are getting. — Zimbabao, Mar 02 '11 at 05:47
possible duplicate of [How to remove the last character from a string?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7438612/how-to-remove-the-last-character-from-a-string) — Nateowami, Oct 04 '14 at 12:32

jcomeau_ictx · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-23T16:22:05.293

305

The code:

public class Test {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        String string = args[0];
        System.out.println("last character: " +
                           string.substring(string.length() - 1)); 
    }
}

The output of java Test abcdef:

last character: f

edited Jan 23 '20 at 16:22

answered Mar 02 '11 at 05:44

jcomeau_ictx

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returns it as a string, not a character, but you already know how to do the latter, and I'm not clear on what you're after. – jcomeau_ictx Mar 02 '11 at 05:46
12

What if your string is empty? – Danish Khan Jan 26 '15 at 19:19
5

it will raise an exception in that case. wouldn't you want it to? – jcomeau_ictx Jan 26 '15 at 19:33
4

Question asks for a character - this returns a one character long string. Should use `charAt()` not `substring()` – Andrew Mar 31 '20 at 13:19
3

Andrew, if you look back at the original question before it was edited, you'll see that the OP already tried charAt() and it wasn't what she wanted. That's one of the problems with a wiki-like medium such as SO, the questions are a moving target and sometimes the answers can look silly as a result. – jcomeau_ictx Mar 31 '20 at 19:13
@jcomeau_ictx is right. He left out exception handling because that is left up to the programmer (and the intended flow of the program). As such, any kind of error checking/handling here is superfluous. – Aquarelle Jun 30 '20 at 07:44

score 110 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 06 '18 at 11:43

110

Here is a method using String.charAt():

String str = "India";
System.out.println("last char = " + str.charAt(str.length() - 1));

The resulting output is last char = a.

edited Mar 06 '18 at 11:43

Callum Luke Vernon

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answered Oct 23 '12 at 07:20

Aniket

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be really careful if you are wanting to do a calculation on a number within a string as char values are quite different than a literal number and your math results will not work. – JesseBoyd Apr 09 '18 at 14:42

score 72 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 28 '17 at 02:26

72

The other answers are very complete, and you should definitely use them if you're trying to find the last character of a string. But if you're just trying to use a conditional (e.g. is the last character 'g'), you could also do the following:

if (str.endsWith("g")) {

or, strings

if (str.endsWith("bar")) {

answered Dec 28 '17 at 02:26

Neil

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Note that the result will be true if the argument is the empty string or is equal to this String object as determined by the equals(Object) method. – Spirit of the Void Sep 16 '21 at 17:49

score 39 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 24 '16 at 07:50

39

The other answers contain a lot of needless text and code. Here are two ways to get the last character of a String:

char

char lastChar = myString.charAt(myString.length() - 1);

String

String lastChar = myString.substring(myString.length() - 1);

answered Oct 24 '16 at 07:50

Suragch

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score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 28 '14 at 22:09

3

Try this:

if (s.charAt(0) == s.charAt(s.length() - 1))

edited Mar 28 '14 at 22:09

hexacyanide

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answered Mar 02 '11 at 05:47

Bala R

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This answer is wrong. It only checks to see if the first and last chars are the same. – Aquarelle Jun 30 '20 at 07:47

Pierre · Answer 6 · 2021-11-09T05:12:38.233

Here is a method I use to get the last nth characters of a string:

public static String takeLast(String value, int count) {
    if (value == null || value.trim().length() == 0) return "";
    if (count < 1) return "";

    if (value.length() > count) {
        return value.substring(value.length() - count);
    } else {
        return value;
    }
}

Then use it like so:

String testStr = "this is a test string";
String last1 = takeLast(testStr, 1); //Output: g
String last4 = takeLast(testStr, 4); //Output: ring

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 05 '16 at 22:05

2

public String lastChars(String a) {
if(a.length()>=1{
String str1 =a.substring(b.length()-1);
}
return str1;
}

answered Apr 05 '16 at 22:05

Abdul Hanan Khan

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I don't think this code will compile (only needs small fixes though), once you get it compile give it a test on an empty string to see if it works. – Knells Apr 05 '16 at 22:32
2

While this answer is probably correct and useful, it is preferred if you [include some explanation along with it](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/114762/159034) to explain how it helps to solve the problem. This becomes especially useful in the future, if there is a change (possibly unrelated) that causes it to stop working and users need to understand how it once worked. Thanks! – Hatchet Apr 06 '16 at 00:18

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 24 '16 at 08:06

2

public char LastChar(String a){
    return a.charAt(a.length() - 1);
}

answered Oct 24 '16 at 08:06

vijay pandey

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score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 03 '17 at 00:28

2

String aString = "This will return the letter t";
System.out.println(aString.charAt(aString.length() - 1));

Output should be:

Happy coding!

answered Oct 03 '17 at 00:28

1

This is the exact same example given here https://stackoverflow.com/a/13025371/773479 – John Veldboom Oct 03 '17 at 00:47

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 02 '11 at 05:46

Simple solution is:

public String frontBack(String str) {
  if (str == null || str.length() == 0) {
    return str;
  }
  char[] cs = str.toCharArray();
  char first = cs[0];
  cs[0] = cs[cs.length -1];
  cs[cs.length -1] = first;
  return new String(cs);
}

Using a character array (watch out for the nasty empty String or null String argument!)

Another solution uses StringBuilder (which is usually used to do String manupilation since String itself is immutable.

public String frontBack(String str) {
  if (str == null || str.length() == 0) {
    return str;
  }
  StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(str);  
  char first = sb.charAt(0);
  sb.setCharAt(0, sb.charAt(sb.length()-1));
  sb.setCharAt(sb.length()-1, first);
  return sb.toString();
}

Yet another approach (more for instruction than actual use) is this one:

public String frontBack(String str) {
  if (str == null || str.length() < 2) {
    return str;
  }
  StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(str);
  String sub = sb.substring(1, sb.length() -1);
  return sb.reverse().replace(1, sb.length() -1, sub).toString();
}

Here the complete string is reversed and then the part that should not be reversed is replaced with the substring. ;)

rakib · Answer 11 · 2019-01-02T09:01:06.110

2

 public char lastChar(String s) {
     if (s == "" || s == null)
        return ' ';
    char lc = s.charAt(s.length() - 1);
    return lc;
}

edited Jan 02 '19 at 09:01

answered Jan 02 '19 at 07:56

rakib

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Mar 29 '23 at 07:02

In case if you are already using apache commons-lang3 library
You can use function from library to get last n characters from the string
org.apache.commons.lang3.right(final String str, final int len);

StringUtils.right(null, *)    = null
StringUtils.right(*, -ve)     = "" // * means anything except null string when len is negative
StringUtils.right("", *)      = ""
StringUtils.right("abc", 0)   = ""
StringUtils.right("abc", 2)   = "bc"
StringUtils.right("abc", 1)   = "c"
StringUtils.right("abc", 4)   = "abc"

How do I get the last character of a string?

12 Answers12

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