Kotlin's raw strings (""" ... """) primarily offer simplicity and readability over escaped strings when dealing with multi-line or complex text. While they don't inherently provide a performance benefit during execution (as all strings are ultimately processed as String objects in the JVM), there are several practical advantages and specific use cases where raw strings shine. Let's break it down:

Advantages of Raw Strings

1. Simplified Syntax:

   • No need for escape sequences (\n, \t, etc.).
   • Easy to include quotes (") or backslashes (\) without escaping them.
   • Improves readability and reduces chances of errors when dealing with complex strings.

2. Preservation of Format:

   • Retains the original formatting, including indentation and newlines.
   • Useful for handling preformatted text such as logs, configuration files, or code snippets.

3. Ease of Multi-line Strings:

   • Multi-line content is written naturally, without the need for concatenation or explicit newline characters.

4. Improved Debugging and Maintenance:

   • Raw strings are easier to read and modify, making them ideal for long strings or those that will be reviewed or edited often.

Use Cases for Raw Strings

1. Handling Multi-line Text

Example:

val multiLineText = """
    Dear User,
    Thank you for using our application.
    
    Regards,
    Kotlin Team
""".trimIndent()

• Ideal for generating user-facing messages, logs, or templates.

2. Embedding Code or SQL

Example:

val sqlQuery = """
    SELECT * FROM users
    WHERE age > 18
    ORDER BY name ASC;
""".trimIndent()

• Preserves indentation and layout, making the query more readable and maintainable.

3. Configuration Files or JSON/XML Content

Example:

val jsonConfig = """
    {
        "name": "Kotlin App",
        "version": "1.0.0",
        "features": ["raw strings", "multi-line", "readability"]
    }
""".trimIndent()

• Eliminates the need for escaping quotes and newlines.

4. Improved Logging

Example:

val logMessage = """
    [ERROR] An exception occurred:
    - Type: NullPointerException
    - Message: Object reference is null
    - Time: 2024-12-03 14:00:00
""".trimIndent()

• Simplifies complex log messages.

Do Raw Strings Offer Performance Benefits?

• During Runtime Execution:

  • No, raw strings and escaped strings are ultimately compiled into the same String objects, so there's no runtime performance difference.

• During Compilation:

  • There might be a marginal benefit in raw strings when dealing with very large texts since escaping characters adds additional work for the compiler.

When to Prefer Raw Strings

• When you want cleaner and more maintainable code for multi-line text or preformatted data.
• When escaping characters in an escaped string would make it cumbersome or error-prone.
• When dealing with file content (e.g., JSON, XML, SQL) or code snippets that need to retain their formatting.

In general, choose raw strings for readability and ease of use, especially in scenarios where string formatting matters.