String type and immutability in Kotlin - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Understanding String Type and Immutability in Kotlin

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are creating a simple program that stores a user's name and tries to change it. This will help you understand how strings work in Kotlin and why they cannot be changed once created.

🎯 Goal: You will create a string variable, try to change it, and then print the results to see how string immutability works in Kotlin.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a string variable with a specific value

Create a new string by modifying the original string

Understand that the original string does not change

Print both the original and the new string

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Understanding string immutability helps when working with user input, text processing, and data that should not change accidentally.

💼 Career

Many programming jobs require handling text data safely and efficiently, and knowing string immutability prevents bugs and improves code quality.

1

Create a string variable

Create a string variable called originalName and set it to the value "Alice".

Kotlin

// Create a string variable called originalName and set it to "Alice"
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use val to create a string variable and assign the value with double quotes.

2

Create a new string by adding text

Create a new string variable called newName by adding the text " Smith" to originalName.

Kotlin

val originalName = "Alice"
// Create a new string variable called newName by adding " Smith" to originalName
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the + operator to join strings in Kotlin.

3

Show that original string is unchanged

Use println to print originalName and newName on separate lines.

Kotlin

val originalName = "Alice"
val newName = originalName + " Smith"
// Print originalName and newName on separate lines
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use println twice to print each string on its own line.

4

Observe string immutability

Run the program and observe that originalName remains "Alice" while newName is "Alice Smith". This shows strings cannot be changed once created.

Kotlin

val originalName = "Alice"
val newName = originalName + " Smith"
println(originalName)
println(newName)
// Run the program to see the output

Need a hint?

The output shows the original string did not change after adding text.