1. String Pool - When a string is created and if it exists in the pool, the reference of the existing string will be returned instead of creating a new object. If string is not immutable, changing the string with one reference will lead to the wrong value for the other references.
Example -
String str1 = "String1";
String str2 = "String1"; // It doesn't create a new String and rather reuses the string literal from pool
// Now both str1 and str2 pointing to same string object in pool, changing str1 will change it for str2 too
2. To Cache its Hashcode - If string is not immutable, One can change its hashcode and hence it's not fit to be cached.
3. Security - String is widely used as parameter for many java classes, e.g. network connection, opening files, etc. Making it mutable might possess threats due to interception by the other code segment.
Example -
String str1 = "String1";
String str2 = "String1"; // It doesn't create a new String and rather reuses the string literal from pool
// Now both str1 and str2 pointing to same string object in pool, changing str1 will change it for str2 too
2. To Cache its Hashcode - If string is not immutable, One can change its hashcode and hence it's not fit to be cached.
3. Security - String is widely used as parameter for many java classes, e.g. network connection, opening files, etc. Making it mutable might possess threats due to interception by the other code segment.