Java String codePointAt() Method

Last Updated : 09 Jan, 2025

The codePointAt() method in Java is part of the String class. It is used to return the Unicode value of the character at the specified index in the string. This method is very useful when working with characters beyond the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP), such as emojis or special symbols.

Example 1: The below Java program demonstrates how to retrieve the Unicode value of a character at the specified index.

Java

// Java Program to demonstrate  // the working of codePointAt() method public class Geeks {     public static void main(String[] args)     {         String s = "Hello";          // Get the Unicode code point of          // the character at index 1         int a = s.codePointAt(1);         System.out.println(             "Unicode value of character at index 1: "             + a);     } }

Output

Unicode value of character at index 1: 101

Syntax of codePointAt() Method

public int codePointAt(int index)

Parameter: The index of the character to retrieve the Unicode code point. It must be within the range 0 to string length - 1.
Return Type: Return an int value representing the Unicode value at the specified index.

Example 2: The below Java program demonstrates how to retrieve the Unicode value of a character including an emoji, at a specified index in a string.

Java

// Java program to demonstrate how to   // retrieve the Unicode value of an emoji import java.io.*;  class Geeks {     public static void main(String[] args)     {          // String with Unicode Created         String s = "Geeks for 🤖 Geeks";          // Get the Unicode code point of the         //  emoji at index 5         int a = s.codePointAt(10);          System.out.println("Code point at index 10 : " + a);     } }

Output

Code point at index 10 : 129302

Example 3: If we attempt to access an invalid index, the codePointAt() method will throw an IndexOutOfBoundsException.

Java

// Java program to demonstrate IndexOutOfBoundsException import java.io.*;  public class Geeks {     public static void main(String[] args)     {         String s = "Geeks";          // Trying to access an invalid index         // This will throw IndexOutOfBoundsException              int a = s.codePointAt(10);         System.out.println("Unicode code point: " + a);     } }

Output:

Note: The exception occurs because the index 10 is beyond the string length (which is 5 in this case).

Example 4: To handle the exception correctly, we can use a try-catch block as shown in the below example:

Java

// Java program to demonstrate // exception handling with codePointAt() import java.io.*;  public class Geeks {     public static void main(String[] args)     {         String s = "Geeks";          try {                        // Trying to access an invalid index             int a = s.codePointAt(10);              // This will throw IndexOutOfBoundsException             System.out.println("Unicode code point: " + a);         }         catch (IndexOutOfBoundsException e) {              // Handling the exception             System.out.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());         }     } }