Enum vs static final String

Question

I was going to use static final Strings as enumerated constants in my application, but would like to see if I should be using enums instead.
In terms of efficiency, if I have, say, 5 enumerated elements, will only one copy of the enumerated element be in memory, like a static final String? So regardless of how many times I refer to it, all references point to the same instance (I'm not sure if what I just said even makes sense in the context of enums, but perhaps you could clarify).
Are there any reasons why for enumerated constants that are known at development time, why static final Strings (or static final anything, for that matter) should be used instead of enums if you're using JDK 1.5?
Thanks.

Answer 1

In terms of efficiency, if I have, say, 5 enumerated elements, will only one copy of
the enumerated element be in memory, like a static final String?I don't know if it addesses your concerns, but the the Java Language Specification says this about enums: "It is a compile-time error to attempt to explicitly instantiate an enum type (�15.9.1). The final clone method in Enum ensures that enum constants can never be cloned, and the special treatment by the serialization mechanism ensures that duplicate instances are never created as a result of deserialization. Reflective instantiation of enum types is prohibited. Together, these four things ensure that no instances of an enum type exist beyond those defined by the enum constants." (http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/classes.html#8.9)
As for the problems of memory usage, how big are these strings anyway?
The advantages of using enums over static final strings are discussed in the "technotes" accompanying 1.5 http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/language/enums.html They list the following as problems with the static final "antipattern"
  * It is not typesafe (methods that expect one of your constants can be sent any old string)
  * There is no name space - so you must continually be sure that your constants don't have names that may be confused
  * Brittleness. Your strings will be compiled into the clients that use them. Then later you add a new constant...
�  * Printed values will be uninformative. Perhaps less of a problem for Strings, but, still, simply printing the string will leave its semantic significance obscure.