Answer by das Keks for How can I pad an integer with zeros on the left?

If performance is important in your case you could do it yourself with less overhead compared to the String.format function:

/**
 * @param in The integer value
 * @param fill The number of digits to fill
 * @return The given value left padded with the given number of digits
 */
public static String lPadZero(int in, int fill){

    boolean negative = false;
    int value, len = 0;

    if(in >= 0){
        value = in;
    } else {
        negative = true;
        value = - in;
        in = - in;
        len ++;
    }

    if(value == 0){
        len = 1;
    } else{         
        for(; value != 0; len ++){
            value /= 10;
        }
    }

    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    if(negative){
        sb.append('-');
    }

    for(int i = fill; i > len; i--){
        sb.append('0');
    }

    sb.append(in);

    return sb.toString();       
}

Performance

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Random rdm;
    long start; 

    // Using own function
    rdm = new Random(0);
    start = System.nanoTime();

    for(int i = 10000000; i != 0; i--){
        lPadZero(rdm.nextInt(20000) - 10000, 4);
    }
    System.out.println("Own function: " + ((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000) + "ms");

    // Using String.format
    rdm = new Random(0);        
    start = System.nanoTime();

    for(int i = 10000000; i != 0; i--){
        String.format("%04d", rdm.nextInt(20000) - 10000);
    }
    System.out.println("String.format: " + ((System.nanoTime() - start) / 1000000) + "ms");
}

Result

Own function: 1697ms

String.format: 38134ms