Java String substring from negative index

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] argv) throws Exception {
        String str = "demo2s.com";
        int start = -2;
        System.out.println(substring(str, start));
    }//from w  w  w .j  a  v  a 2  s. com
    public static final String EMPTY = "";

    public static String substring(String str, int start) {
        if (str == null) {
            return null;
        }

        // handle negatives, which means last n characters
        if (start < 0) {
            start = str.length() + start; // remember start is negative
        }

        if (start < 0) {
            start = 0;
        }
        if (start > str.length()) {
            return EMPTY;
        }

        return str.substring(start);
    }

    /**
     * <p>Gets a substring from the specified String avoiding exceptions.</p>
     *
     * <p>A negative start position can be used to start/end <code>n</code>
     * characters from the end of the String.</p>
     *
     * <p>The returned substring starts with the character in the <code>start</code>
     * position and ends before the <code>end</code> position. All position counting is
     * zero-based -- i.e., to start at the beginning of the string use
     * <code>start = 0</code>. Negative start and end positions can be used to
     * specify offsets relative to the end of the String.</p>
     *
     * <p>If <code>start</code> is not strictly to the left of <code>end</code>, ""
     * is returned.</p>
     *
     * <pre>
     * substring(null, *, *)    = null
     * substring("", * ,  *)    = "";
     * substring("abc", 0, 2)   = "ab"
     * substring("abc", 2, 0)   = ""
     * substring("abc", 2, 4)   = "c"
     * substring("abc", 4, 6)   = ""
     * substring("abc", 2, 2)   = ""
     * substring("abc", -2, -1) = "b"
     * substring("abc", -4, 2)  = "ab"
     * </pre>
     *
     * @param str  the String to get the substring from, may be null
     * @param start  the position to start from, negative means
     *  count back from the end of the String by this many characters
     * @param end  the position to end at (exclusive), negative means
     *  count back from the end of the String by this many characters
     * @return substring from start position to end positon,
     *  <code>null</code> if null String input
     */
    public static String substring(String str, int start, int end) {
        if (str == null) {
            return null;
        }

        // handle negatives
        if (end < 0) {
            end = str.length() + end; // remember end is negative
        }
        if (start < 0) {
            start = str.length() + start; // remember start is negative
        }

        // check length next
        if (end > str.length()) {
            end = str.length();
        }

        // if start is greater than end, return ""
        if (start > end) {
            return EMPTY;
        }

        if (start < 0) {
            start = 0;
        }
        if (end < 0) {
            end = 0;
        }

        return str.substring(start, end);
    }

}
/*
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */