From Effective Java 2/e by Joshua Bloch

Strings are poor substitutes for other value types
- When a piece of data comes into a program from a file, from the network, or from keyboard input, it should be translated into the appropriate type (int, float, boolean)
Strings are poor substitutes for enum types
Strings are poor substitutes for aggregate types
```
// Inappropriate use of string as aggregate type
String compoundKey = className + "#" + i.next();
```
- To access individual fields, you have to parse the string, which is slow, tedious, and error-prone

Strings are poor substitutes for capabilities

// Broken - inappropriate use of string as capability!
public class ThreadLocal {
  private ThreadLocal() { } // Noninstantiable
  // Sets the current thread's value for the named variable.
  public static void set(String key, Object value);
  // Returns the current thread's value for the named variable.
  public static Object get(String key);
}

String keys represent a shared glo- bal namespace for thread-local variables. In order for the approach to work, the client-provided string keys have to be unique
```
public final class ThreadLocal<T> {
  public ThreadLocal() { }
  public void set(T value);
  public T get();
}
```

Item 50 - Avoid strings where other types are more appropriate

From Effective Java 2/e by Joshua Bloch

Posted by The Finest Artist