What is toString() method?

Returns a string representation of an(y) object. The toString() method returns a string that textually represents this object.

The toString method for any Object returns a string consisting of the name of the class of which the object is an instance, the at-sign character `@', and the unsigned hexadecimal representation of the hash code of the object. In other words, this method returns a string equal to the value of:

getClass().getName() + '@' + Integer.toHexString(hashCode())

package org.javatutorials.StringBased;

public class Employee {
	
	private String firstName;
	
	private String lastName;
	
	private int age;
	

	public String getFirstName() {
		return firstName;
	}


	public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
		this.firstName = firstName;
	}


	public String getLastName() {
		return lastName;
	}


	public void setLastName(String lastName) {
		this.lastName = lastName;
	}


	public int getAge() {
		return age;
	}


	public void setAge(int age) {
		this.age = age;
	}


	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Employee emp = new Employee();
		emp.setFirstName("Kelly");
		emp.setLastName("Scott");
		emp.setAge(40);
		
		System.out.println(emp);
	}

}

Output

Overriding toString() method yields desired and more readable output of the object.

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