String.substring(0)

Question

The 1.3.1 and 1.4.0 documentation states:
public String substring(int beginIndex)
Returns a new string that is a substring of this string. The substring begins with the character at the specified index and extends to the end of this string.
However, if you pass 0 as the beginIndex it does NOT return a new string, it returns itself.
From the 1.3.1 source:
    public String substring(int beginIndex) {
     return substring(beginIndex, count);
    public String substring(int beginIndex, int endIndex) {
     if (beginIndex < 0) {
         throw new StringIndexOutOfBoundsException(beginIndex);
     if (endIndex > count) {
         throw new StringIndexOutOfBoundsException(endIndex);
     if (beginIndex > endIndex) {
         throw new StringIndexOutOfBoundsException(endIndex - beginIndex);
     return ((beginIndex == 0) && (endIndex == count)) ? this :
         new String(offset + beginIndex, endIndex - beginIndex, value);
    }So, the API documentation is wrong in this respect. I did a search in the bug database but couldn't find a bug for this.

Answer 1

The 1.3.1 and 1.4.0 documentation states:
public String substring(int beginIndex)
Returns a new string that is a substring of this
string. The substring begins with the character at the
specified index and extends to the end of this
string.
However, if you pass 0 as the beginIndex it does NOT
return a new string, it returns itself.i wouldn't be too concerned about this. unless you're doing something really specialized, you shouldn't be terribly concerned about the identity of content-equivalent Strings.
has anyone really felt misled by this slice of documentation?