To provide more useful representations of arrays, various toString methods (and the deepToString method) were added to the Arrays class in JDK 1.5. Those methods can be used when available, as in:

Arrays.toString(myArray); 
Arrays.deepToString(myObjectArray); //recursive

If you need an alternative, you can simply convert the array to a collection, as in

Arrays.asList(myArray).toString();

Finally, here's a third option, using a utility class which:

• uses a slightly different style from that used in Arrays
• works with versions of the JDK prior to 1.5
• returns text in the same format as AbstractCollection.toString
• handles arrays of all primitive types, and arrays of Objects as well
• handles arrays of arrays by using recursion

package myapp.business;

import java.lang.reflect.Array;

/**
* Convenience method for producing a simple textual
* representation of an array.
*
* <P>The format of the returned <code>String</code> is the same as
* <code>AbstractCollection.toString</code>:
* <ul>
* <li>non-empty array: [blah, blah]
* <li>empty array: []
* <li>null array: null
* </ul>
*
* @author Jerome Lacoste
* @author www.javapractices.com
*/
public final class ArrayToString {

  /**
  * <code>aArray</code> is a possibly-null array whose elements are
  * primitives or objects; arrays of arrays are also valid, in which case
  * <code>aArray</code> is rendered in a nested, recursive fashion.
  */
  public static String get(Object aArray){
    if (aArray == null) return fNULL;
    checkObjectIsArray(aArray);

    StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(fSTART_CHAR);
    int length = Array.getLength(aArray);
    for (int idx = 0 ; idx < length ; ++idx) {
      Object item = Array.get(aArray, idx);
      if (isNonNullArray(item)){
        //recursive call!
        result.append(get(item));
      }
      else{
        result.append(item);
      }
      if (! isLastItem(idx, length)) {
        result.append(fSEPARATOR);
      }
    }
    result.append(fEND_CHAR);
    return result.toString();
  }

  // PRIVATE
  private static final String fSTART_CHAR = "[";
  private static final String fEND_CHAR = "]";
  private static final String fSEPARATOR = ", ";
  private static final String fNULL = "null";

  private static void checkObjectIsArray(Object aArray){
    if (! aArray.getClass().isArray()) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Object is not an array.");
    }
  }

  private static boolean isNonNullArray(Object aItem){
    return aItem != null && aItem.getClass().isArray();
  }

  private static boolean isLastItem(int aIdx, int aLength){
    return (aIdx == aLength - 1);
  }

  /** Test harness.  */
  public static void main(String... args) {

    boolean[] booleans = {true, false, false};
    char[] chars = {'B', 'P', 'H'};
    byte[] bytes = {3};
    short[] shorts = {5,6};
    int[] ints = {7,8,9,10};
    long[] longs = {100,101,102};
    float[] floats = { 99.9f, 63.2f};
    double[] doubles = { 212.2, 16.236, 42.2};
    String[] strings = {"blah", "blah", "blah"};
    java.util.Date[] dates = { new java.util.Date(), new java.util.Date() };
    System.out.println("booleans: " + get(booleans));
    System.out.println("chars: " + get(chars));
    System.out.println("bytes: " + get(bytes));
    System.out.println("shorts: " + get(shorts));
    System.out.println("ints: " + get(ints));
    System.out.println("longs: " + get(longs));
    System.out.println("floats: " + get(floats));
    System.out.println("double: " + get(doubles));
    System.out.println("strings: " + get(strings));
    System.out.println("dates: " + get(dates));

    int[] nullInts = null;
    int[] emptyInts = {};
    String[] emptyStrings = {"", ""};
    String[] nullStrings = {null, null};
    System.out.println("null ints: " + get(nullInts));
    System.out.println("empty ints: " + get(emptyInts));
    System.out.println("empty Strings: " + get(emptyStrings));
    System.out.println("null Strings: " + get(nullStrings));

    String[] arrayA = {"A", "a"};
    String[] arrayB = {"B", "b"};
    String[][] arrayOfArrays = {arrayA, arrayB};
    System.out.println("array Of Arrays: " + get(arrayOfArrays));
  }
} 

>java -cp . myapp.business.ArrayToString
booleans: [true, false, false]
chars: [B, P, H]
bytes: [3]
shorts: [5, 6]
ints: [7, 8, 9, 10]
longs: [100, 101, 102]
floats: [99.9, 63.2]
double: [212.2, 16.236, 42.2]
strings: [blah, blah, blah]
dates: [Wed Jun 18 09:55:08 EDT 2003, Wed Jun 18 09:55:08 EDT 2003]
null ints: null
empty ints: []
empty Strings: [, ]
null Strings: [null, null]
array Of Arrays: [[A, a], [B, b]]