Alternative to DecimalFormat class?

[wmd]

Are there any other classes I can use to comma separate format an integer, e.g. 100000000 becomes 100,000,000? The proviso is that the object must not create any garbage. The DecimalFormat class creates garbage, which renders it useless for my requirements.

[DarrylBurke]

The DecimalFormat class creates garbage

Huh?

db

[wmd]

Yep, every time you call a DecimalFormat object, it creates heap allocations which results in garbage collector invocations. Well, it does on Android anyway, which is what I'm developing for.

[DarrylBurke]

Android ... is what I'm developing for.

Moved from New to Java..

db

[DarrylBurke]

Is the Android garbage collector really so inefficient that creating and discarding objects results in a performance hit? I find that rather surprising.

You could probably roll your own class to parse an int and output the required String, Using a single instance of a StringBuilder internally could mean that the only new object created is the returned String.

db

[wmd]

Calling an existing DecimalFormat object in a loop creates enough garbage to cause a collection every 40 seconds or so. I'm working on a game and this is causing stuttering in my app when the GC kicks in. I also tried String.format but this also creates garbage. I just wanted to double check that there wasn't already a Java class I could use before I spent time on my own solution.

[Tolls]

How many times are you formatting a number then?
Because DecimalFormat doesn't produce that much data on a single run.

[wmd]

It depends on what the player is doing. It's the player score/high score that I'm formatting.

[Tolls]

I suppose if the score racks up rapidly (I'm thinking daka-daka-daka) then possibly.
Just check you are only formatting when you have to (on score change I suppose).

[wmd]

Yeah, I am only updating the scores on score change. Enemies can be destroyed in rapid succession, and there are also other elements which can cause the score to increase quickly. I'm surprised that it seems so elusive as to how to convert an int to a String without creating data on the heap. I've tried all sorts but everything produces heap data. Even reusing a StringBuilder creates heap data as the int has to be converted to a String before it can be appended to a StringBuilder.

[Tolls]

If the display needs a String then you have to create something.
That something needs iterations to format it (for each comma).
How else are you going to do that without creating objects (Strings in this case)?

Without really knowing the ins and outs of the problem, though, it's going to be hard to suggest anything.
You could, for example, hold the score as units, thousands and millions, each populating a comma separated field on the screen (a bit like the old pinball machines).
Or look at a way of batching score updates...that might be preferable.