Text Blocks

JEP 378 — finalized in Java 15. A text block is a multi-line string literal that avoids the need for most escape sequences and gives the string a predictable format.

Basic Syntax

A text block begins with """ followed by a line terminator, then the content, then a closing """. It can be used anywhere a regular string literal can.

java
// Regular string literal
String name = "Pat Q. Smith";

// Text block — equivalent
String name = """
              Pat Q. Smith""";

name.equals("Pat Q. Smith") // true

Multi-line content:

java
String message = """
    'The time has come,' the Walrus said,
    'To talk of many things:
    Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax --
    Of cabbages -- and kings --
    And why the sea is boiling hot --
    And whether pigs have wings.'
    """;

Equivalent without text blocks:

java
String message = "'The time has come,' the Walrus said,\n" +
                 "'To talk of many things:\n" +
                 "Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax --\n" +
                 "Of cabbages -- and kings --\n" +
                 "And why the sea is boiling hot --\n" +
                 "And whether pigs have wings.'\n";

Syntax Rules

• Must begin with """ followed immediately by a line terminator — content cannot start on the same line as the opening """
• Cannot be written on a single line

java
// INVALID
String s = """red""";
String s = """red
           green""";

// VALID
String s = """
    red
    green
    blue
    """;

Embedded double quotes do not need escaping:

java
String source = """
    String msg = "Hello, World!";
    System.out.println(msg);
    """;

Final Newline

By default the text block includes a trailing newline (the line before the closing """):

java
String s = """
    red
    green
    blue
    """;
// Equivalent to: "red\ngreen\nblue\n"

To exclude the final newline, place the closing """ on the last content line:

java
String s = """
    red
    green
    blue""";
// Equivalent to: "red\ngreen\nblue"

Or use the \ line continuation escape:

java
String s = """
    red
    green
    blue\
    """;
// Equivalent to: "red\ngreen\nblue"

Incidental Whitespace

The compiler strips incidental whitespace — the leftmost non-whitespace character determines the left margin. Relative indentation is preserved.

java
void writeHTML() {
    String html = """
                  <html>
                      <body>
                          <p>Hello World.</p>
                      </body>
                  </html>
                  """;
}
// Result: "<html>\n    <body>\n        <p>Hello World.</p>\n    </body>\n</html>\n"

To preserve all leading whitespace, position the closing """ at column 0:

java
String html = """
              <html>
              </html>
""";
// Indentation is preserved as-is

Trailing Whitespace

Trailing whitespace on each line is stripped automatically. To preserve it:

java
// Using \s as a fence (translates to a space)
String colors = """
    red  \s
    green\s
    blue \s
    """;
// Each line is exactly 6 characters

// Using character substitution
String r = """
    trailing$$$
    white space
    """.replace('$', ' ');

Line Terminator Normalization

All line terminators (\n, \r, \r\n) are normalized to \n by the compiler.

To get platform-specific line endings:

java
String s = textBlock.replaceAll("\n", System.lineSeparator());

Escape Sequences

Text blocks support the same escapes as string literals, plus two new ones:

Escaping runs of three or more quotes:

java
String code = """
    String source = \"""
        String message = "Hello!";
        \""";
    """;

Related String Methods

java
String output = """
    Name: %s
    Phone: %s
    """.formatted(name, phone);

Style Guidelines

• Use text blocks for multi-line strings; use regular literals for single-line strings
• Indent content relative to the closing """, not to the opening
• Use only spaces or only tabs — never mix (mixing causes inconsistent indentation)
• Use \ to suppress the final newline when needed
• Use \s to preserve trailing spaces

References

• Oracle Docs — Text Blocks (Java 25)
• JEP 378: Text Blocks