Code that parses a first name from a name string

String fullName = " Pamela Caldwell ";
fullName = fullName.trim();
int indexOfSpace = fullName.indexOf(" ");
String firstName = fullName.substring(0, indexOfSpace);

Code that parses a string containing a tab-delimited address

String address = "805 Main Street\tDallas\tTX\t12345";
address = address.trim();
String[] addressParts = address.split("\t");
String street = addressParts[0];
String city = addressParts[1];
String state = addressParts[2];
String zip = addressParts[3];

Code that adds dashes to a phone number

String phoneNumber1 = "9775551212";
String phoneNumber2 = phoneNumber1.substring(0, 3);
phoneNumber2 += "-";
phoneNumber2 += phoneNumber1.substring(3, 6);
phoneNumber2 += "-";
phoneNumber2 += phoneNumber1.substring(6);
Code that removes dashes from a phone number
String phoneNumber3 = "977-555-1212";
String phoneNumber4 = "";
for(int i = 0; i < phoneNumber3.length(); i++)
{
    if (phoneNumber1.charAt(i) != '-')
        phoneNumber4 += phoneNumber3.charAt(i);
}

Code that compares strings

String lastName1 = "Smith";
String lastName2 = "Lee";
int sortResult = lastName1.compareToIgnoreCase(lastName2);
if (sortResult < 0)
    System.out.println(lastName1 + " comes first.");
else if (sortResult == 0)
    System.out.println("The names are the same.");
else
    System.out.println(lastName2 + " comes first.");

String customerNumber = "";
//if (customerNumber.equals(""))    // old way
//if (customerNumber.length() == 0) // old way
if (customerNumber.isEmpty())       // Java 1.6 and later
    System.out.println("customerNumber contains an empty string.");