How to Check if a String Is a Number in Java

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Mohammad Irfan Feb 02, 2024
Java Java String
  1. Check if a String Is a Number in Java
  2. Check if a String Is a Number Using the Character Class in Java
  3. Check if a String Is a Number Using Apache Library in Java
  4. Check if a String Is a Number Using the Double Class in Java
  5. Check if a String Is a Number in Java 8
How to Check if a String Is a Number in Java

This tutorial introduces how to check whether a string is numeric in Java and lists some example codes to understand it.

There are several ways to check numeric string like using regex, the Double class, the Character class or Java 8 functional approach, etc.

Check if a String Is a Number in Java

A String is numeric if and only if it contains numbers (valid numeric digits). For example, "123" is a valid numeric string while "123a" not a valid numeric string because it contains an alphabet.

To check numeric string, we could use the matched() method of the String class that takes regex as an argument and returns a boolean value either true or false.

public class SimpleTesting {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    String str = "123";
    boolean isNumeric = str.matches("[+-]?\\d*(\\.\\d+)?");
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
    str = "121xy";
    isNumeric = str.matches("[+-]?\\d*(\\.\\d+)?");
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
    str = "0x234";
    isNumeric = str.matches("[+-]?\\d*(\\.\\d+)?");
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
  }
}

Output:

true
false
false

Check if a String Is a Number Using the Character Class in Java

We can use the isDigit() method of the Character class to check each character in a loop. It returns either true or false value.

public class SimpleTesting {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    String str = "1123";
    boolean isNumeric = true;
    for (int i = 0; i < str.length(); i++) {
      if (!Character.isDigit(str.charAt(i))) {
        isNumeric = false;
      }
    }
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
  }
}

Output:

true

Check if a String Is a Number Using Apache Library in Java

If you are using Apache, you can use the isNumeric() method of the StringUtils class, which returns true if it contains a numeric sequence.

import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;

public class SimpleTesting {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    String str = "1123";
    boolean isNumeric = StringUtils.isNumeric(str);
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
    str = "123xyz";
    isNumeric = StringUtils.isNumeric(str);
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
  }
}

Output:

true
false

Check if a String Is a Number Using the Double Class in Java

We can use the parseDouble() method of Double class that converts a string to double and returns a double type value. It throws an exception if it cannot be parsed.

public class SimpleTesting {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    String str = "1123";
    try {
      Double.parseDouble(str);
      System.out.println("It is a numerical string");
    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
      System.out.println("It is not a numerical string");
    }
  }
}

Output:

It is a numerical string

Check if a String Is a Number in Java 8

If you are using Java 8 or higher version, then you can use this example to check numeric string. Here, the isDigit() method of the Character class is passed in allMatch() as a method reference.

public class SimpleTesting {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    String str = "1123";
    boolean isNumeric = str.chars().allMatch(Character::isDigit);
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
    str = "ab234";
    isNumeric = str.chars().allMatch(Character::isDigit);
    System.out.println(isNumeric);
  }
}

Output:

true
false

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