Not entirely correct, last I checked string interning was ONLY guaranteed for those strings defined in source and read in during class loading, strings created

Not entirely correct, last I checked string interning was ONLY guaranteed for those strings defined in source and read in during class loading, strings created via the String constructor (f.ex. via StringBuilder) CAN duplicate those strings that you hardcoded in your sources, to get the "canonical" string in those cases you have to invoke String.intern() if memory serves me correct. https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/lang/String.html#intern https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base...() Also interning strings to optimize equality checks to be able to use pointer comparison is dangerous for external inputs since iirc at some point interned strings could permanently be stored (unless implemented by a WeakSet) and attackers could fill up your heap (or cause other GC issues since the entire interning functionality is a cache) by filling up your interning lists with crap.