What is difference between String s = new String(s.getBytes("UTF-8"),"UTF-8"); and String s = new String(s.getBytes(),"UTF-8");

Question

What is difference between

String(s.getBytes("UTF-8"),"UTF-8"); 

and

String(s.getBytes(),"UTF-8");

With first code example some of the special characters are getting decoded why and what is the difference?

And will impact anything if I use double decoding with UTF-8 ?

Answer 1

From the javadoc:

For getBytes():

Encodes this String into a sequence of bytes using the platform's default charset, storing the result into a new byte array.

Whereas, getBytes(Charset) says:

Encodes this String into a sequence of bytes using the given charset, storing the result into a new byte array.

So the second version allows you to take full control, the first call relies on that platform default charset.

That is all there is to this.

For that "platform default", see here for example. And note that people are asking to make the default to simply be UTF-8 across the board (see here).