String.lines() for line splitting

Home / Strings / String.lines() for line splitting

Code Comparison

String text = "one\ntwo\nthree";
String[] lines = text.split("\n");
for (String line : lines) {
    System.out.println(line);
}

String text = "one\ntwo\nthree";
text.lines().forEach(IO::println);

Why the modern way wins

⚡

Lazy streaming

Lines are produced on demand, not all at once like split().

🔧

Universal line endings

Handles \n, \r, and \r\n automatically without regex.

🔗

Stream integration

Returns a Stream for direct use with filter, map, collect.

Old Approach

split("\\n")

JDK Support

String.lines() for line splitting

Available

Available since JDK 11 (September 2018).

How it works

String.lines() returns a Stream<String> of lines split by \n, \r, or \r\n. It is lazier and more efficient than split(), avoids regex compilation, and integrates naturally with the Stream API for further processing.